JEDDAH, 5 February 2006 — A 36-member Saudi business delegation, headed by Dr. Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, former chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry, has returned from Malaysia after signing memorandums of understanding valued at SR2.81 billion.
The delegation’s visit coincided with the tour to Malaysia by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
One of the agreements reached was that a Malaysian business delegation would visit the Kingdom in April and the 3rd Joint Saudi-Malaysian Business Council would be held during its tour.
King Abdullah and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi addressed the opening ceremony of the second Joint Saudi-Malaysian Business Council.
King Abdullah, who was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Malaysia’s Islamic University, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Muhammed Ali Hashim, deputy chairman of the Malaysian-Saudi Business Council, and Dr. Fahad Al-Sultan, secretary general of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry, addressed the ceremony, highlighting the close bilateral ties.
“The most important economic event, and also a measure of the success of the business council delegation, was a signing ceremony during the 2nd joint meeting of the council. Five memorandums of understanding were signed for a total value of SR28.1 billion,” Al-Sulaiman, also chairman of Saudi-Malaysian Business Council, said.
According to the MOUs, a $250 million fund is to be invested in strategic projects in both Malaysia and the Kingdom. The fund will be placed with investors in both Malaysia and Saudi Arabia on an equal basis and managed by Venture Capital Bank of Bahrain. Johor Corporation of Malaysia’s COO Jamaludin Ali and Siraj Capital Chairman Al-Sulaiman signed the accord.
Jamaludin Ali and Al-Sulaiman signed another agreement for a $250 million fund to be invested in strategic real estate projects in both countries. This fund will be placed with investors in both Malaysia and the Kingdom on an equal basis.
A $100 million agreement to develop technology and then manufacture Saudi mobile phones was signed between M. Dot Mobile Sdn. of Malaysia, represented by its chairman Nor Hamzah ibn Nordin, and Ghazi Saleh Shalhoub, president of the Saudi Arabian Television Manufacturing Co.
A $20 million agreement to develop technology related to white board e-learning systems was signed by Pintar Learning of Malaysia represented by its CEO Fazli Yusof and Al-Kassabi Company of Saudi Arabia represented by its Chairman Tarek Al-Kassabi.
A SR30 million IT contract was signed between Malaysia’s Electronic Commerce Technology Company COO Khair Zaini and Saudi-based Interactive Media Company Executive Director Saeed Al-Qahtani.
“We visited Malaysia for the second meeting of the Joint Saudi-Malaysian Business Council as a follow-up to the first meeting held two months ago and the outcome was very successful,” Al-Sulaiman told a press conference at the JCCI yesterday. Muhammed Ali Hashim, deputy chairman of the Malaysian-Saudi Business Council, formed by the Malaysian-Saudi Friendship Society, headed the Malaysian side, which included more than 100 business leaders.
One other MOU signed was between International Medical University of Malaysia, a major private institution in the country represented by Sesame Consulting Group Chairman Dr. Kamal Salih and a group of Saudi investors headed by Al-Subaee Training Institute represented by Dr. Al-Sulaiman. “The contract is for the undertaking of a detailed study for setting up a medical university in Madinah,” Al-Sulaiman said, adding that it is expected to involve an investment ranging between $100-130.