RIYADH, 31 January 2004 — Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir opened the Saudi Pavilion during a visit to the Khartoum International Fair. Over 40 companies from the Kingdom are participating at the event under the umbrella of the Saudi Export Development Center (SEDC), said Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al-Zamil, chairman of the SEDC executive council.
“We expect to increase the trade volume between the Kingdom and Sudan which totaled SR1.2 billion in 2002,” he told Arab News. The figure does not include trade in oil. The Saudi exhibit is the largest at the event. Other participants include Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, Germany and France.
Dr. Al-Zamil said that President Al-Bashir inspected the wide variety of products on display. These included petrochemicals and plastics, packing materials; building and electrical products; power and communication equipment; medical products; appliances and stationery.
“President Al-Bashir expressed his admiration for the quality of Saudi products which he said to be up to the high standards required by the Sudanese market,” Dr. Al-Zamil said. At the end of his visit, Dr. Al-Zamil presented Al-Bashir a package of fine dates on behalf of the Saudi delegation as a token of hospitality.
Abdul-Karim Yaquob, director at the SEDC’s department of media and exhibition, said that the Kingdom is Sudan’s biggest trading partner worldwide and that Saudi imports from Sudan represent 23 percent of Sudan’s total exports.
He added that during the visit, a decision was made to hold a Saudi products exhibition in Khartoum by the end of 2004 or early 2005.
“SEDC will also organize the Saudi delegation to the exhibition,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yaquob added that a Saudi exporters’ delegation, also headed by Dr. Al-Zamil, visited Kharotum on Jan. 15-18.
The delegation held meetings with the ministers of investment, foreign trade, finance, and electricity and with the Sudanese Businessmen and Employers’ Federation and the Chambers of Commerce Association.
