RIYADH, 6 March 2006 — French President Jacques Chirac has offered his country’s cooperation with the Kingdom in the fields of aviation, defense, energy and oil sectors and said the relatively low presence of French companies on the Saudi economic scene does not match the otherwise excellent relations at the political level.
Chirac was speaking at the Saudi-French dialogue attended by a large number of top Saudi and French business executives, besides senior government officials from both sides.
“It’s time for raising the economic relations to the excellent political relations. French companies have made a name for themselves for their inventiveness. Our two countries could strengthen their ties in the field of aviation and defense. In the field of energy we hope to enhance our partnership through the expertise of Total, while the French Center for Oil is at your disposal,” he observed.
According to press reports, France has expressed its interest in the sale of Rafale fighters and a border monitoring system. The deal with French aerospace group Dassault Aviation is reportedly worth up to $7.2 billion, while defense manufacturer Thales expects to seal a $8.4 billion deal for its Miksa electronic monitoring system.
Earlier, the French president paid tributes to the Kingdom’s leadership under Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and said the long-standing relations between the two countries were based on mutual trust and shared perceptions. He also lauded the economic reforms program initiated by King Abdullah whose role in promoting moderation in a turbulent region had made Saudi Arabia a political heavyweight in the Middle East.
Speaking on the occasion, Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, president of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the bilateral trade increased from SR1.13 billion in 1998 to SR1.82 billion in 2004. “The joint investment between the two countries has not come up to its potential as it does not exceed SR4.01 billion, which represents only three percent of the total overseas of investment in the Kingdom.”
In a separate interview, French Minister of Commerce Christine Lagarde, told Arab News that she will lead a delegation of small and medium-size companies to the Kingdom next month as part of a trade mission to promote business opportunities.
Fehied F. Alshareef, governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), said they were exploring the possibility of cooperation in the dual system water desalination cum power generation sector.
Already, he pointed out, SWCC had signed with various French firms contracts in the range of SR1 million-SR50 million for the supply of equipment and spare parts for the desalination plants as well as their rehabilitation, where necessary.
In the power generation sector, the $2.9 billion Shuaiba Independent Water Power Plant (IWPP) project has already been awarded to an international consortium of companies, while bidding is now on for the Al Shuqaiq power plant. As many as 15 consortia have prequalified for submitting bids, which will be finalized within a few months.
The project, which will be executed on a BOO (build, operate and own) basis, is expected to cost around $1.5 billion. When completed, it will produce 900 MW of electricity and 212,000 cubic meters of water on a daily basis. Many other projects will be coming up and are open to all international companies.
Prince Mohammed Al-Faisal, president of the Alfaisaliah Group, said they want to build on their existing relations with French companies to diversify into other areas. “We have had a positive experience with our Saudi-French joint venture company Al-Safi-Danone during the last five years. We could use it as a model for enhancing this cooperation in other fields. One of the areas we are looking at is the retail industry. But we’ll also keep our eyes and ears open for other opportunities that arise in the present environment of economic boom,” he observed.
Hamad Al-Zamil, president, Al Zamil Group Holding Co., said they would like to go into a tie-up with a French firm in the petrochemical or other fields which should lead to technology transfer. “Strength through diversity is our aim. We welcome French cooperation in the manufacturing sector.”
Hazem Aswad, president, Aswad Group, said they were interested in expanding their retail business in collaboration with French companies. “We have 20 supermarkets in the Eastern Province, besides electro-mechanical, real estate, jewelry and other divisions. We want to see how we can import French products for our supermarkets.”
Speaking to Arab News, Michel Dubois, country manager, BNP Paribas, said he was upbeat about the prospects of enhanced economic cooperation with the Kingdom given the fact that both countries had excellent relations at the political level. There was a good potential for diversifying relations, especially in the area of technology transfer. The presence of a high-level delegation accompanying the President could ensure that the right people were on hand to address their needs in this direction.
The country manager of Alcatel in Saudi Arabia, Guy Martin, said there was a good scope for expansion of bilateral ties in the field of telecommunications, since lots of projects coming up in the Kingdom would always need telecommunication facilities. However, he declined to comment on the obstacles for the business community saying “they are not an issue for my company.”