Saudi-Pakistani trade mission starts in Jeddah

JEDDAH: Saudi-Pakistani trade mission has started in Jeddah where 30 Pakistani and 86 Saudi food and building material companies met to discuss and explore opportunities to export Saudi products to Pakistan.

The mission was organised by the Saudi Export Development Authority - “Saudi Exports”.

The Pakistani delegation, upon its arrival in Jeddah held a meeting with Deputy Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Abdul Aziz Al-Abdulkarim and the Secretary General of Saudi Export Development Authority Saleh Al-Solami.

The two sides discussed aspects of joint cooperation and ways to enhance trade and economic relations, and later held a dinner.

Saleh Al-Solami welcomed the Pakistani delegation, and said, “I am pleased to welcome you to this special meeting, which reflects the strategy of enhancing economic and trade relations and investment cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

He also highlighted the strong relationship between the two countries, and said the leaders in both countries were keen to consolidate this relationship for mutual benefit.

Then, the Deputy Chairman of Jeddah Chamber Eng. Ziad Al Bassam welcomed the Pakistani delegation and praised the trade mission which will lead to various investment opportunities.

Pakistani Commercial Consul in Saudi Arabia, Shahzad Khan referred to the depth of the Saudi-Pakistani relations and the contribution of this trade mission in enhancing trade exchange, activating partnership, and encouraging mutual investments between the two countries.

Business meetings between Saudi exporters and potential buyers from Pakistan were also held.

This trade mission was an extension of the historical economic and trade relations between the two countries.

The total non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan during the past five years have reached riyal 17 billion, with over riyal 191 million for food exports and more than riyal 365 million for building materials during the same period.

This trade mission reinforced Saudi Exports efforts to support local exporters and promote their products and services to expand in international markets, reflecting the Saudi 2030 vision and its objectives to increase non-oil exports from 16 percent to 50 percent of the total GDP, and diversify sources of income.

Saudi Exports invests all its capabilities to improve the efficiency of the export environment, overcome the obstacles that exporters might face, raise awareness about export practices, and develop human competencies in the field of export.

It also works to raise the export readiness of the targeted enterprises through an assessment of the export readiness and consultation services to improve the export capacity of the target enterprises.

Saudi Exports was also working to facilitate the creation of suitable opportunities and export markets suitable for enterprises by preparing the manuals of market access and market studies on demand. It contributes to the emergence of Saudi products to the target groups through participation in international exhibitions.

Saudi Exports further links exporters with buyers and potential partners through trade missions and bilateral meetings on the sidelines of international exhibitions.

The work of the Saudi Exports reflects the Kingdom’s vision 2030 and meets the aspirations of the wise leadership in order to diversify sources of income for the national economy.