RIYADH, 22 June 2006 — In an attempt to educate American masses about the reform process initiated by the Kingdom and the results accomplished so far, Dr. Hashim Abdullah Yamani, minister of commerce and industry, will deliver a lecture on “Economic Reform and Restructuring Strategy for Saudi Arabia” at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR) in the US today.
“Dr. Yamani will spell out the measures introduced by the Saudi government to promote economic growth, increase foreign investment and expand employment opportunities,” Hugh McMullen, a CCFR spokesman, said yesterday.
The Saudi initiatives have laid the foundation for a long-term restructuring strategy that would enable the Kingdom to become a major free-market economy.
McMullen said that the Kingdom had undertaken extensive economic reforms to promote a free market economy by privatizing major state enterprises, establishing regulatory authorities to carry out reforms, improving foreign investment laws, and revising a broad range of commercial regulations. In 2005, Saudi Arabia also became the 149th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The minister’s visit to the US and his meetings with American businessmen and people will help boost business relations between the two countries.
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