RIYADH, 30 September — Senior officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Saudi Arabian Standards Organization will leave for Denmark today as part of a food safety delegation. The team will also comprise officials from other Gulf Cooperation Council states.
The visit is mainly intended to acquaint with the regulations adopted by that country to ensure food safety.
During their weeklong stay, the GCC officials will visit slaughterhouses, high-tech laboratories and veterinary clinics in the country.
Denmark has been losing millions of riyals following a ban on import of beef and meat products from that country into the Kingdom, Danish Ambassador Sven Erik Nordberg said yesterday. He said the visit would help GCC officials to gather first-hand information about safety measures taken by the country’s food industry.
Nordberg said the Danish exports to Saudi Arabia declined from SR1 billion in 1998 to SR815 million last year, mainly because of the ban on Danish meat imposed following the outbreak of the mad cow disease in Europe. The Kingdom, however, lifted a ban on Danish dairy products recently.
During the first half of 2000, the total Danish exports were valued at SR400 million. The Kingdom’s exports to Denmark has been in the region of SR10 million only. Some 55 percent of Danish exports constitute food products.
This small volume of Saudi exports is mainly because of the fact that Denmark is self-sufficient in terms of oil and gas. Moreover, the balance of trade has been in favor of Denmark and the two sides have been trying to plug the huge trade gap.
On investment front, Riyadh and Copenhagen have set up six joint-venture projects with a cumulative investment of SR305 million. Denmark, Nordberg said, is looking for possibilities to cooperate in training sector and also in manufacturing and marketing equipment for handicapped people. To this end, he noted that a proposal to endorse an investment protection treaty is being discussed by the two countries. At the same time, he called on Saudi businessmen to attend an agriculture exhibition to be organized in Denmark from Jan. 25 to 29.
Asked about Danish position on the Middle East peace process following terror attacks in the US, the diplomat called on the Palestinians and Israelis to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, saying that Copenhagen supports the principle of “land for peace”. “Denmark does not recognize Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, which contravens the Geneva convention”, he noted.
He said that Denmark has pledged to provide $25 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority between 2000 to 2004. This is in addition to the moral and material support extended to the PA by Copenhagen through the UN agencies. He said that “his country is against any form of new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and the question of the final status of Jerusalem must be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians”. (MGAK)
