Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi held a number of meetings with British ministers and leaders of major companies, aiming at boosting trade and economic partnership between the two countries.
The meetings were attended by Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz and Deputy Minister of Commerce and CEO of the National Competitiveness Center .Dr. Iman bint Habbas Al-Mutairi.
During his visit, Al Qasabi met with the following UK officials: Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps; Minister of Trade and Business Kimi Badinosh, Minister of Investment Dominic Johnson, Minister of State for Middle East and North African Affairs Tariq Mahmoud Ahmed, and Minister of State at the Department of Education Nick Gibb.
Al Qasabi also held meetings with Undersecretary of Department of Science, Innovation and Technology Viscount Camrose, Advisor to the British Prime Minister for Business and Investment Frank Petitgas, Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Education, Sir Steve Smith, and CEO of the British Accreditation Authority Matt Gantley.
The meetings tackled the strategies and programs of the Saudi Vision 2030 aimed at expanding business opportunities and investments between the two countries, as well as encouraging British companies to expand their businesses in Saudi Arabia, and encouraging and financing emerging companies to enter promising fields of research and innovation; the British experience in developing entrepreneurship was also reviewed.
Al Qasabi also held meetings with leaders of the British business sector, most notably with CEO of Rolls-Royce Tufan Erginbilgic, and participated in a dialogue session with members of the Asian House, a think-tank concerned with promoting trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The Saudi delegation had a scheduled visit to Dulwich College where it was briefed on the British practices and experience in the field of education.
The minister’s visit to UK coincided with the third meeting of the Economic and Social Committee of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council, which convened in London.
Composed of 45 officials from 22 government, non-profit and private agencies, the Saudi delegation participated in the “Saudi-British Business Partnership Forum”, organized by the National Competitiveness Center, the Joint Saudi-British Business Council, and the Federation of Saudi Chambers.
Among the participating entities were the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund, Mohammed bin Salman “Misk” Foundation, Roshan Real Estate Group, the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the Joint Saudi-British Business Council.
Source: Saudi Press Agency