Saudi Arabia and Spain: economic investment allies
Saudi Arabia is developing various economic sectors within the framework of the Vision 2030 project aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy so that it does not depend exclusively on oil. The Saudi Kingdom is interested in partnerships with other countries to encourage this process and investment, and Spain is a great option, something that was made clear at the Spain-Saudi Arabia Business Forum hosted by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce at its headquarters in Madrid.
Reyes Maroto, Spain's Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and Faisal Alibrahim, the Kingdom's Minister of Economy, closed the Forum with their speeches, which made it clear that there are great investment opportunities in the economic and commercial relationship between the two countries.
The Spanish Minister highlighted this important event, which included the meeting of the Spain-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission, which is very important for increasing trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.
Reyes Maroto highlighted the solid and long-standing economic relations between Spain and the Arab country. "Saudi Arabia is a major trading partner and Spain's main supplier and customer in the Middle East, with an annual trade volume of more than 5 billion euros," the minister explained.
Reyes Maroto made it clear that investment links are growing, but with modest figures, which makes forums such as this one "necessary to promote investment relations".
A great example of the strength of the Spanish-Saudi alliance is the remarkable number and magnitude of Spanish projects present in the Kingdom in the last decade, as recalled Reyes Maroto, who highlighted among these the construction of the Mecca-Medina high-speed railway line and other initiatives such as the construction of lines 4, 5 and 6 of the Riyadh Metro; along with numerous other projects of Spanish companies such as Técnicas Reunidas, Acciona or Aqualia. Reyes Maroto also highlighted other examples in intercity transport, with the presence of companies such as Alsa. The Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism expressed her confidence in the "commitment to permanence" of this solid relationship between the two countries.
Reyes Maroto highlighted Saudi Arabia's "ambitious investment projects" within the framework of the Vision 2030 proposal, which will generate a multitude of opportunities such as gigaprojects and emblematic projects like NEOM. In fact, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Economy invited Reyes Maroto to visit the Kingdom in November to see these initiatives in person.
These giant projects are "catalysts and attractive for investment in various sectors" in which Spanish companies have a place due to their extensive experience in actively collaborating with Saudi Arabia. Reyes Maroto also alluded to the experience and expertise of Spanish and Saudi companies in providing "added value" to other countries in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Precisely, Spain is a great option for the Saudi kingdom to enter the African and Latin American markets.
Reyes Maroto indicated that the joint commission held within the framework of this forum demonstrates the great state of economic cooperation between the two nations in various sectors such as energy, tourism, the health sector, construction, etc. A great "example of the good institutional and commercial relations between the two countries".
In the field of tourism, Spain is an important partner because of its great experience in this area, and Saudi Arabia needs this type of strategic alliance. In fact, Reyes Maroto announced the signing in November of a memorandum of understanding on tourism between Spain and Saudi Arabia.
For his part, the Kingdom's Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal Alibrahim, also wished to thank all those who had contributed to the forum, which brought together many businessmen, signifying "another milestone in the path of our mutual relations based on a partnership in various sectors of industry, trade and tourism, and thanks also to the participation of the private and public sector".
Referring to the joint commission held, Faisal Alibrahim remarked that it brings more opportunities for the future and for the great relations between the two countries.
He also referred to Vision 2030, with which Saudi Arabia aims to move from being the 19th largest economy in the world to the 15th largest by 2030. The Vision 2030 project promotes the diversification of the Saudi economy away from exclusive reliance on hydrocarbons. The aim is to boost other economic sectors, and this is where countries such as Spain and companies with extensive experience in these areas come into play to help develop them on the basis of Saudi financing and foreign investment from Spain.
The Saudi Minister of Economy gave the examples of tourism, sports and new technologies. Faisal Alibrahim indicated that 15 million tourists came to the Saudi kingdom last year and that his country had hosted sporting events such as the Dakar Rally and football competitions such as the Spanish Super Cup. The Saudi Minister of Economy also pointed out that Saudi Arabia ranks second in the G20 in terms of technology and that many companies have set up headquarters in Riyadh, a city that is among the top 10 industrial and business centres in the world.
The Saudi finance minister made his intentions clear: "We want to invest in all sectors, both public and private". "We want to learn from you and invest in different sectors other than oil. We need the support of friendly countries and their companies and the sectoral strategy and their expertise," he remarked.
