RIYADH, 10 October — The number of joint ventures between Saudi Arabia and the United States increased from 286 in March 2001 to 312 within a year, according to a report published by the Saudi-American Business Council.
The report said that capital investment in industrial and non-industrial joint venture projects rose by SR13 billion from SR65.4 billion to SR78.4 billion.
The report pointed out that non-industrial joint ventures rose from 191 to 209 during the same period with capital investment going up more than four fold from SR4.2 billion to SR17.7 billion.
The report said joint industrial projects rose from 95 last year to 103 with a total investment of SR60.6 billion. Saudi-US joint ventures in the industrial sector account for 20 percent of the Kingdom’s total joint projects, put at 475.
However, the council pointed out that there was substantial fall in the volume of commercial exchange between the US and Saudi Arabia as Saudi imports from America dropped from SR10.5 billion in May 2001 to SR6.8 billion in May 2002, registering a fall of SR3.7 billion.
During the same period, Saudi exports to the United States decreased from SR23.5 billion to SR17.7 billion, with a difference of SR5.8 billion or 23 percent.
A Saudi business delegation recently visited Virginia to meet with American businessmen and discuss prospects of strengthening economic, investment and commercial ties.
Abdul Aziz Al-Quraishi, co-chairman of Saudi-American Business Council, expressed hope that the visit would help increase Saudi-US joint projects.
