Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Board of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, and Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg, inaugurated here on Thursday the Saudi-Swedish Business Council. The meeting was attended by the members of the council, and representatives from the business and investment sectors in the two countries. Al-Qasabi affirmed that the council is a mainstay in stimulating and encouraging the private sector on both sides, contributing to develop bilateral relations, exchange expertise and knowledge, and set plans and programs to seize available investment opportunities and turn them into tangible partnerships. "The Kingdom is keen to enhance trade cooperation, facilitate exports to Sweden and the Scandinavian countries and exchange expertise and knowledge," Al-Qasabi said, adding that the Kingdom is Sweden's largest economic partner in the Middle East and the No. 1 trade partner among the Scandinavian countries, as the volume of trade exchange in the last five years has reached more than $6 billion. He urged Swedish companies to invest in the Kingdom in various promising sectors and to take advantage of the opportunities and initiatives of the Saudi Vision 2030, especially in manufacturing industries and various promising sectors such as e-commerce, information technology, and others. Dr. Al-Qasabi also touched on the most prominent economic reforms in light of the Vision 2030, the most important investment opportunities, and the Kingdom's achievements in empowering women, preserving the environment, clean and renewable energy fields, progress in commercial policies, and improving the business environment. Meanwhile, the Saudi-Swedish Joint Committee was convened to enhance bilateral cooperation. The meeting, headed by the Deputy Governor of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, Eng. Jaber Al-Mishal, approved the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee, which outlines the road map for strengthening cooperation in all sectors between the two countries. Both events were attended by representatives from the public and private sectors. — SPA
