The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef held yesterday evening a number of bilateral meetings with the ministers concerned with mining affairs in their countries. The meetings were held on the sidelines of the activities of the International Mining Conference, which kicked off earlier Wednesday at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources met respectively with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of the United Kingdom Grant Shapps; the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Kingdom of Thailand Varawut Silpa-archa; the Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga, and the Minister of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Bulgaria Nikola Stoyanov. The meetings discussed strengthening bilateral relations, developing joint economic, trade and investment cooperation, and emphasizing the importance of ongoing joint efforts among the participating countries as part of the International Mining Conference to maximize the use of mineral potentials and resources in order to achieve common aspirations and goals. The meetings also discussed a number of common issues and investment opportunities offered by the mining sector in the emerging mining region extending from Africa to West and Central Asia, which has promising mining with potential abilities and capabilities to bridge the expected gap in the growing demand for minerals in the future.
