During the Fifth Session of the Saudi-Russian Joint Committee
His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qassabi, Chairman of the Saudi side in the Saudi-Russian Joint Committee, and H.E. the Russian Minister of Energy, Alexander Novak, signed today in Riyadh the minutes of the Saudi-Russian Joint Committee at its fifth session during 31 October to 02 November 2017.
This came during the work plan of the Saudi-Russian Joint Committee, organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment.
The Saudi-Russian sides aim to activate trade and investment partnership in the fields of trade, investment, finance, banking, energy, telecommunications and information technology, and the use of nuclear energy and outer space for peaceful purposes.
The meetings of the Saudi-Russian Joint Committee were chaired by His Excellency Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi and H.E. Mr. Alexander Novak, Russian Minister of Energy.
The meetings were attended as well by H.E. the advisor, Ahmed Al Khatib, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Development Fund, also Engr. Ibrahim Bin Abdul Rahman Al Omar, Governor of the General Investment Authority, and a number of representatives of government agencies and businessmen from both sides.
The two sides expressed their satisfaction with the friendly and constructive atmosphere that prevailed during the meetings, and for the development witnessed by the bilateral relations between the two countries. Both sides also stressed the importance of visits and mutual meetings among officials and political leaders in both countries for the development and promotion of bilateral relations, headed by the first and historical visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to Russian Federation to consolidate the bilateral relations and to promote joint cooperation for the benefit of the two countries.
Both sides also stressed the need to increase the contribution of the private sector and to strengthen and enhance cooperation among the community of men and women entrepreneurs.
H.E. Dr. Al Qasabi confirmed the aspiration of the Kingdom to enhance trade partnership with Russia, saying"We look forward to working together to invest the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Russian Federation last month, so we can continue the dialogue among businessmen and investors in both countries for enhancing cooperation ties in the fields of trade and investment and for serving the interests of both countries".
He explained that the relations between the two friendly countries are under development and progress. The two sides will review all the opportunities available in both countries and they will study and discuss ways to promote intra-trade, especially in non-oil products.
H.E. Dr. Al Qasabi said "The opportunities and the unique investment environment in accordance with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, in addition to the modern capabilities and directions of the Russian economy, provide a promising basis for growth in private sector joint ventures."
For his part, H.E. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stressed the depth of the Saudi-Russian economic relations in view of their advanced positions in the global energy market and the great potentials of the two countries in the field of economic and trade cooperation.
H.E. the Russian Minister considered the first historic visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Moscow an important event that contributed to solving, pushing and expanding the multi-faceted understanding between the two countries.
H.E. added, "During this meeting, the leaderships of the two countries have set up a set of priority tasks that are conducive to the welfare of foreign economic relations, as well as pushing them forward, also diversifying trade and economic cooperation, besides increasing trade exchange volume and strengthening the basis of investment cooperation".
At the conclusion of the fifth session of the joint Saudi-Russian committee, the two sides affirmed their keenness to activate areas of cooperation in various sectors discussed by the said committee.
The two sides expressed their common desire to activate the agreements, memoranda and programs that were signed during the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Russian Federation last month, and to enhance trade and investment cooperation through joint projects and investments, and to encourage visits and participation in various events in both countries.
The two sides affirmed the two countries' determination to promote industrial cooperation through joint efforts and initiatives in various fields, including the aluminum industry.
Regarding energy, the two sides discussed cooperation within the joint technical team and the recently signed road map in Moscow, as well as considering the expansion of cooperation between the Public Investment Fund and the Russian Fund for direct investment in a number of investment fields in both countries.
They also discussed expanding cooperation in the fields of education through the development of academic mobility and the direct partnership of educational institutions.
In the field of agriculture and food security, the two sides stressed the cooperation with regard to animal products exported to the Kingdom. The participation of Russian companies specialized in grain trade in the Kingdom's tenders for the supply of barley and wheat to the Saudi market is highly welcomed. As well as cooperation in the fields of health, technical and vocational training, information, housing, tourism, transportation and others.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-Russian Business Council held a meeting with the presence of H.E. Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment, H.E. Alexander Novak, Russian Energy Minister, H.E. Engr. Ibrahim Al-Omar, Governor of the General Investment Authority. The two sides discussed the economic cooperation and means of developing that.
This meeting coincides with the meetings of the joint Saudi-Russian government committee, with the participation of a number of Saudi and Russian companies, which represent several economic sectors in the agenda of economic cooperation between the two countries. After that a number of presentations have been reviewed, including a presentation about the investment opportunities in Russia, other about the Saudi General Investment Fund and its counterpart the Russian, also a presentation about the factors of the investment environment in the Kingdom, presented by the General Investment Authority.
It is worth mentioning that the volume of trade exchange between the Kingdom and Russia reached in 2016 SR 2757 million, the joint ventures between the two sides reached 22, with a capital amounted to SR 84 million.