JEDDAH, 18 June — The volume of Saudi-US trade dropped considerably in the first two months of this year, according to an official American report.
While US exports to the Kingdom fell by 30 percent, the Kingdom’s exports to America dropped by 39 percent in the same period, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
Charley Kestenbaum, commercial counselor at the US Embassy in Riyadh attributed the sharp fall in the volume of trade to the appreciation of the dollar against other currencies, which in turn made American goods costlier to Saudi importers.
The US official also identified the lower crude price early this year as another factor that stood in the way of increased trade between the two countries.
The imports from the US had dropped by six percent in 2001 compared to the previous year.
The major Saudi exports to the US are petroleum and petrochemical products, while the Saudi imports are parts of aircraft, machinery, food products, furniture and motor vehicles.
Meanwhile, British Ambassador to the Kingdom Derek Plumbly said the people’s boycott of Western products would run counter to the interests of Saudi investors more than anyone else.
Most of the companies that happened to be the target of the boycott use Saudi capital employing a large number of Saudi workforce. “It is quite natural that the boycott’s impact will be directly felt by Saudi nationals. Hence, the objective of the boycott will not be served,” he added.
“Under this circumstance, those who call for the boycott should reconsider it,” the ambassador said.
Several Saudi businessmen met with the ambassador at a meeting organized by the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dammam. Chairman of the EPCCI Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid also attended the meeting.
“British investments in the Kingdom, which mainly focused on petrochemicals, crude and gas, reached $3.5 billion and will continue to increase,” the ambassador noted.
The mutual trade between the two countries reached $7.9 billion last year. The non-oil Saudi exports to Britain, which accounted for 60 percent of its non-oil exports to all European countries, reached $1.4 billion in the period, he said. It was also double the Saudi exports to France, Italy, Germany and Holland.
While 30,000 Britons worked in the Kingdom more than 100,000 Saudi tourists visited Britain annually.
Plumbly added that his country supported the Saudi efforts to join the World Trade Organization. Britain also supported the proposed free trade zone between Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
