Arab News, Tuesday, Feb 28, 2023 | Sha'ban 08, 1444
Saudi-Croatian business council to be established to boost economic cooperation
Saudi Arabia:
A joint Saudi-Croatian business council is on
track to be established in an attempt to tap new areas of economic cooperation
between the two countries, Saudi Press Agency reported.
To be recognized under the Federation of Saudi
Chambers umbrella, the new business council will also be concerned with
financing continuous interaction between the business sectors of both countries.
The decision came during a meeting involving the
former President of Croatia, Colinda Grabar, and her accompanying delegation,
with Saudi business owners at the headquarters of the Federation of Saudi
Chambers in Riyadh.
During the meeting, Grabar expressed her country's
desire to sign an economic cooperation agreement with the Kingdom to expand the
areas of trade and investment cooperation.
Under the terms of the new agreement, both
countries will work hand in hand to explore the prospects for partnership
between the two countries as well as the opportunities available in the sectors
of renewable energy, transport, infrastructure, tourism, and real estate.
To support this, the former president called for
greater participation between Saudi and Croatian firms in a way that contributes
to raising the level of economic relations between the two countries.
On the other hand, the head of the Federation of
Saudi Chambers Hassan bin Mujib Al-Huwaizi stressed during the meeting that
Croatian companies have several investment opportunities in the Kingdom in the
sectors targeted in Vision 2030, especially renewable energy, tourism, and real
estate.
This comes as the volume of trade exchange between
the two countries surged 198 percent to reach SR533 million ($142 million) in
2021.
Al-Huwaizi called for finding new cooperation
mechanisms that contribute to stimulating investment opportunities between the
two countries.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia also discussed
ways to strengthen economic cooperation with several European countries during
its participation in the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
The international meeting – which took place in
Paris, France – discussed the role of responsible business behavior in the
global economy, and the contribution of the private sector to economic growth.
During the meeting, the Kingdom’s Minister of
Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim examined ways to propel financial
sustainability and digitization.