JEDDAH, 19 May 2005 — The Austrian trade mission ended its visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday, after a six-day tour of Jeddah and Riyadh.
The mission had a “successful” interaction at both ministerial and chambers of commerce and industry levels, Austrian Ambassador Stift Friedrich told Arab News.
The bilateral trade, which is on a strong footing, is also on the threshold of further expansion, he said. “The trade volume between the two countries amounted to over 500 euros in 2004, with Austria’s 206 million euros worth of exports and 300 million euros imports,” the ambassador said.
Austrian exports include automobiles and special machinery. Austria recently signed a joint venture deal for a 400 million euros project of Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed), a company of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC)
“Our imports have been mostly of oil and petrochemicals,” the ambassador added.
According to him, in 2004 Austrian exports slightly went down but imports increased. “The increase in the import value was mostly due to the oil price rise,” he said. The mission was in Riyadh for three days, following its two-day tour of Jeddah, which was accompanied by Austrian Consul Hartwig Seuchter. The delegation had individual meetings with local businessmen in the two cities.
Representatives of nine Austrian companies who formed the delegation said they found there was vast scope for establishing their presence here. “Construction materials, especially whitewood used in the industry, had many inquiries,” said one of the delegates. The delegation also represented products like digital aerial cameras, technology for the rapid manufacture of seals, beech and oak timber, plastic closures and closure systems for packaging pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, as well as cosmetics and chemical products.