ALKHOBAR, 25 March 2005 — This past week Dr. Gerhard Enver Schrombgens, the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, paid a visit to the Eastern Province. In a series of meetings with local firms he pressed forward with measures to enhance the trade relationship between the Kingdom and Germany. The ambassador was hosted by Al-Abdulkarim Group at a gala dinner held at Heritage Village. There, senior members of the local business community were able to interact with him on an informal basis.
Schrombgens’ visit was a follow up on Germany’s recent initiatives toward Saudi Arabia. After a gap of 20 years with no visit to the Kingdom from a German federal chancellor, Chancellor Schroeder came to Saudi Arabia in October 2003 and then visited again just 17 months later.
“Germany is the No. 1 exporter in the world, so the health of our economy depends a lot on our strong trade relationships,” said Schrombgens. “This is one of the main themes that the federal chancellor stressed in his visit three weeks ago. He was promoting investments, not only German investments in Saudi Arabia but he was also proposing Saudi investments in Germany. We believe that the opportunities are there but that neither side has taken the best advantage of what is on offer.”
It is clear that the German business community has become quite enthusiastic about pursuing business with the Kingdom. Schrombgens stated that there was never a visit by the German chancellor abroad where so many businessmen wanted to join him.
“The opportunities for growth in Saudi-German trade are absolutely everywhere,” the ambassador remarked. “In Germany, unfortunately we are not the best in the real oil business. For example, we do not have companies like British Petroleum or Total. So what we do and can do and should do much more, is to fill certain niches in the areas of equipment, for example, or construction. In actuality there is a good trade relationship between Germany and the Kingdom and we simply must expand upon it.”
The German businessmen who did accompany the chancellor to Saudi Arabia had a fruitful trip and Schrombgens felt they were quite comfortable with the security situation in the Kingdom. In fact, he found that even after the instances of violence last year there was no major exodus of Germans from the Kingdom.
“The German expatriate community is only about 1,200, but we are seeing a lot of new business activity. Whenever I board Lufthansa, the planes are full of businessmen,” said Schrombgens. “The planes going to Riyadh go on to Asmara and I always see that the plane is empty going to Asmara or coming from Asmara so it is easy to see that it is Riyadh that is interesting. Lufthansa is also flying three times a week to Jeddah and also to Dammam. Lufthansa is making business so this is one way to know that businessmen and businesswomen are interested to come to Saudi Arabia.”
Speaking with the German ambassador it was apparent that he was quite knowledgeable about the Middle East and Islam and has a genuine fondness for the Kingdom. When asked about the sometimes negative perception of Islam abroad, he replied: “I always read in the local newspapers that there is a wrong image of Islam abroad. The truth is that these people who are terrorists have nothing to do with Islam. However, as long as these men and these boys are claiming to do the bad deeds in the name of Islam it is they who are putting Islam into a bad picture — not the West creating the image.”
Schrombgens was pleased with the Kingdom’s foray into the democratic process. He emphasized that while perhaps the elections weren’t perfect, they did hold much future promise.
“You can see the elections from two sides,” the ambassador commented. “One can claim as some people in Saudi Arabia do that these elections are a farce, of no importance, or are unnecessary and so on. But one can also look at it from the other side that these elections are a first step. We as Germans or we as people who have been brought up in Western democracies, we can always regret that women were not allowed to vote. But we must believe that this was a good first step and a first step means that a second step must follow. The people of Saudi Arabia have been promised that second, third and fourth steps will follow and let’s hope that this will come true.”