RIYADH, 29 March 2006 — The upcoming visit of Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, to Singapore next month is expected to give a big boost to bilateral relations in terms of trade, investment, higher education and other fields.
This message came through during the visit of Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to the headquarters of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) yesterday. Amr Abdullah Dabbagh, governor of SAGIA, briefed Lee and his accompanying delegation on the highlights of the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), which he described as a “magnificent project whose details have been carefully worked out.”
The SAGIA governor invited Singapore to lend its IT experience in the running of KAEC’s business center. He also wanted its banks to establish their presence in the city’s so-called Financial Island, which will be home to the world’s biggest financial institutions, including banks, investment and insurance companies.
Lee Kuan Yew’s visit to the capital came on the heels of the recent visit of Singapore’s Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and underscored the “Look East” orientation of the Kingdom’s foreign policy. Singapore has also upgraded diplomatic relations to the ambassadorial level, while the visa procedure has been streamlined.
“We are looking forward to the visit of Prince Sultan to Singapore, when we expect to sign the Investment Guarantee Agreement between the two countries,” Lee told Arab News.
“We shall establish Saudi-Singaporean Joint Business Council, which will be inaugurated by Crown Prince Sultan during his visit to Singapore. We shall review the current bilateral trade so as to enhance the level of bilateral trade and investment. There is still room for growth in the bilateral relations, since the two economies are complementary rather than competitive. So there are lots of common interests between our two countries,” said Fahad Al-Sultan, secretary general of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Both Dabbagh and Sultan stressed that information technology would be the first priority in the area of cooperation between the two countries.
Besides IT and banking, SAGIA is also scouting for Singapore’s cooperation in the management of KAEC’s 2.6-million square-meter new Millennium Seaport, which will be similar in size to the world’s top 10 ports. With its strategic location on the Red Sea and instant access to key cities within the Kingdom, the port will have a designated area for light industry and logistics and serve as a natural platform for onward movement of goods to Europe, Africa, Asia and beyond.