Chairman of the Saudi-Chinese Business Council in the Council of Saudi Chambers, Mohammad Al-Ajlan, said that about 15 Chinese companies have expressed their desire to invest in the Kingdom and engage in privatization projects in various government sectors, emphasizing the historical ties between the two countries.
Al-Ajlan stressed the importance of joint cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China on the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” initiative, especially in production capacity, which he said would contribute to accelerating the pace of investments and trade relations.
The Saudi official’s comments came during the participation of the Saudi-Chinese Business Council in the virtual forum of the Sino-Arab Friendship Conference, which was held on Tuesday under the title, “Strengthening friendship and cooperation between China and Arab countries in the post-pandemic period through communication and people-to-people exchange.” The forum addressed the aspirations of Chinese-Arab friendly cooperation.
In a speech on behalf of the members of the Saudi side in the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, Al-Ajlan said that economic and financial cooperation between Arab countries and China has witnessed a clear progress, especially with regards to consolidating trade and investment relations, calling for more efforts to advance trade exchange and joint investments.
He added that the Belt and Road initiative would serve the strategic goals and enhance the concepts of sustainability in a manner that does contradict the rules of the multilateral trading system under the umbrella of the World Trade Organization.
Saudi Arabia had announced plans to privatize 16 government sectors, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, to improve the balance of payments and increase the contribution of the private sector to the GDP from 40 percent to 65 percent.
