The commercial relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is among the important issues being discussed on the visit of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, according an analyst of Middle East affairs. Prince Muhammad will travel to New York and California during his United States visit where he is expected to have conversations with finance, investment and technology leaders. The prospects for expanding business will be examined with both sides looking for trade and investment opportunities, wrote Patrick Ryan in Al Arabiya. For American investors that will come in two parts, according to Richard Wilson, who heads the Saudi-US Trade Group (SUSTG) in Washington. "There's the immediate opportunity that is presented by the prospect of the privatization, an IPO, of some part of Saudi Aramco. You will see investment houses actively pursuing that opening. "They are also treating the new Saudi economic program as a potential entree into other investment opportunities in the Kingdom." There are longer-term considerations as well, said Wilson: "Fortune 500 companies are looking at how regulatory reforms are going to affect their ability to invest in key sectors within the Kingdom. "They are asking what changes will there be in terms of ownership requirements and the full array of business considerations large companies think about when they look to invest in Saudi Arabia." American business leaders, however, are sold that there's a real intent in Saudi Arabia to change, to reform the economy and to take significant measures leading to a diversified economy. According to Wilson, "They're excited that there's someone, in the person of Prince Muhammad, who is very focused on achieving this goal and he appears to have sufficient influence and leverage to accomplish it." The Vision 2030 initiative and its implementing programs as they are detailed and launched have been very well received by businesses globally, from CEOs to economists, as signaling the Kingdom is moving in the right direction. That has stimulated a great deal of curiosity and interest resulting in prospects for greater levels of foreign direct investment and it will significantly increase US involvement as Saudi Arabia moves along this path. In the visits to New York City and the West Coast, Prince Muhammad will likely look for feedback, interest and involvement in the Vision 2030 economic goals. In January, the US-Saudi CEO Summit program was launched at a conference in Riyadh through the efforts of the US Chamber of Commerce and the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Wilson, who attended the summit, said: "There's a very good working relationship between the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest business association in the US and the Saudi Chambers of Commerce, it's counterpart in Saudi Arabia." He noted the initiative is supportive of the new economic initiatives in the Kingdom and assists US business in becoming connected to new opportunities.
