Efforts to Establish European Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia

Efforts to Establish European Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi government and the European Union have agreed to speed up efforts for the establishment of a European chamber of commerce in the Kingdom, to be the first of its kind in the region.

Last year, the value of trade exchange between the two sides reached around $84 billion, representing a 30 percent annual growth.

This comes as the Saudi-EU Investment Forum concluded on Monday in Riyadh, in the presence of officials and executives representing major companies in Saudi Arabia and the European Union.

In remarks on the occasion, Saudi Investment Minister Khaled Al-Falih said that coordination with the EU has a vital role in the Kingdom’s ongoing economic transitions, as the Gulf nation is uniquely positioned to meet Europe’s needs “like no other.”

“I am convinced there is still immense potential for expanding our partnership further, especially in terms of scale, diversity, and quality of our outbound and inbound investments,” the minister underlined.

He added that over 1,300 European companies have invested in Saudi Arabia, pointing to the presence of major Saudi investments in most EU countries.

For his part, the European Commission Executive Vice President Maros Sefcovic said that the EU and Saudi Arabia share an interest in continuing interactions on multilateral trade