RIYADH, 12 March — A delegation from the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) will visit Spain next month to boost relations in tourism sector. The move follows the recent visit by Jose Luis R. Gonzalez, a provincial Spanish minister, to the Kingdom, which is currently working on the mechanism to promote private financing in the tourism industry on Spanish model.
Spanish Ambassador Ramon Ansoain Garraza told Arab News that Prince Sultan ibn Salman, SCT’s secretary-general, has shown keen interest to forge closer cooperation with Madrid in the tourism sector. Prince Sultan recently visited Spain.
The Kingdom, which can boast of more than 10,000 tourist locations that include a wealth of historical and cultural sites, has already prepared a national plan aimed at promoting domestic tourism. This plan will be unveiled next month after the Cabinet approval.
Referring to bilateral ties, Ambassador Garraza said Riyadh and Madrid have forged closer relations in all sectors. He said Spanish exports to Saudi Arabia exceeded $600 million last year, while Spanish imports from the Kingdom increased from $794 million in 1999 to $1,200 million last year.
On imports of Spanish olive oil, he said that Spain was the world’s foremost producer of olive oil. Reacting to reports appearing in a section of the press about the adverse effects of olive oil consumption, the diplomat clarified that there was no problem with the Spanish olive oil.
The Kingdom is the top importer of Spanish olive oil among the Gulf states.
Speaking about political relations, Garraza said Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has welcomed the Middle East peace initiative of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard. He said Josep Pique, Spanish foreign minister, will visit the region from April 17 to discuss a whole range of issues related to the peace process, situation in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
Asked about the GCC-EU free trade agreement, which was shelved during the recent Granada meeting, Ansoain said the two sides will hold the next round of negotiations on the issue in Brussels on March 20.
He said the EU has decided to open its representative office in Riyadh later this year with responsibility to boost relations with the six-nation bloc. This will be the first EU representative office in the region.
