The Saudi British Business Council (SBBC) approved Friday the establishment of the Saudi British Investment Company, an idea first formulated at the second Saudi British Conference in 2006 in Riyadh, with capital of SR2 billion. Khaled Al-Saif, Chairman of the SBBC, said the company would be up and running in the last quarter of 2009, and that the SBBC would meet in Riyadh in November of this year to discuss the details of the company and its work strategy. “Both sides were keen to set up the company despite the global economic crisis,” Al-Saif said. According to Al-Saif, Friday's meeting also discussed joint investments in financial services, health care, education, transportation, power services and petrochemical and gas projects, in addition to committee work in increasing the volume of the two countries' economic relations. The gathering further reviewed a visit made by a delegation of Saudi businessmen to UK cities of Manchester and Birmingham last November which saw partnerships finalized between investors in the food industry and industrial fields. The council also looked at the issue of training and supporting young Saudi expertise at British companies for six to nine months. “The council agreed on an agenda to be submitted to the next Two Kingdoms' Dialogue meeting next year in London, which includes tax systems pertinent to businessmen and the protection of the joint investment protection accord signed by the two countries,” Al-Saif added. The secretary general and the executive president of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, Afnan Al-Shuaibi, said she took part in the SBBC meeting to discuss the Training and Development Project for youth in both countries and was approved at the Two Kingdoms' Dialogue in 2007. Al-Shuaibi said the SBBC agreed on a program for the recently employed to be given on-the-job training at major companies in the UK and Saudi Arabia. Al-Shuaibi added that the chamber was coordinating with Saudi and British companies on a cooperation strategy for the project with the Saudi British Chambers Council, noting that British companies have welcomed the idea and the first group of Saudi company' employees will arrive in the UK soon. The project, Al-Shuaibi added, would initially focus on trainees skilled in the areas of accountancy, tourism, education, health and computers.
