IF Germany today is Saudi Arabia’s third largest trading partner, it speaks volumes about the trade relations that have undergone between the two countries since a long time. According to the German Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (Gesalo), German exports to this country totaled 5.3 billion euros in 2007, while the exports from the Kingdom were worth 1.1 billion euros in the same year.
This could be made possible because the German companies have been active here in the Kingdom for a long time, and are engaged in many fields of cooperation with the Saudi business enterprises. Gesalo, which is the official representative of German industry and commerce in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen, is highly optimistic about the future of the commercial ties between the two countries.
“Gesalo’s mission is to support and to boost the bilateral economic relations between Germany and Saudi Arabia on the one hand and between the Kingdom and Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen on the other,” said Gerd M. Doepner, delegate of German Industry and Commerce, while speaking to Arab News, here.
Gesalo, founded in Riyadh in 1978 by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The trade organization is part of the network of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and the 80 bilateral German Chambers of Industry and Commerce around the world.
One of its major aims is to familiarize German companies with the impressive business opportunities in the Kingdom. For that reason Gesalo has been implementing a range of projects in 2008 in order to introduce German companies without prior experience in the Kingdom to the Saudi market. “Our aim is to boost the interest of German companies in the Saudi Arabia even further, and convince them that the Arabian country is a very attractive market,” said Doepner.
By the end of this year, Gesalo will organize German business delegations to the Kingdom in the fields of health care, renewable energy, engineering and construction as well as a variety of official delegations from different countries in Germany. In the first quarter of 2009, Gesalo will host delegations for consulting engineers, and construction, health care, and environment. In this context, it arranges visits in the relevant ministries, coordinates events and educates the business delegations by on-site visits.
This is with an aim to make the German companies attracted to the vast opportunities in the biggest economy of the region as well as its life-style and customs. Germany’s focus is on industry sectors that are earmarked for substantial investment in the years to come and on fields in which German technology and engineering offer leading edge solutions and services.
The German visits will be reciprocated by invitations to Saudi companies and representatives to Germany, to provide them with business contacts and first hand information. Gesalo is also promoting German trade fairs to Saudi companies looking for truly international contacts. Two-thirds of all international trade fairs take place in Germany. Gesalo assists Saudi businessmen in targeting the right trade fair, getting tickets and visas as well as in arranging convenient travel plans for the visitors. Referring to the trade fairs, Doepner said from January to September, some of the major trade fairs that have taken place in Germany are CeBIT (the world’s No. 1 exhibition for IT and Telecommunication), Domotex (international exhibition for floor coverings), Hannover Messe (the international trade fair for industrial solutions in Hannover), IFAT (the leading international trade fair for water, sewage, refuse and recycling in Munich), and Photokina (world of imaging in Cologne).
Trade fairs like CeBIT, IFAT and Domotex are highly frequented by Saudi visitors and exhibitors. Gesalo promotes Saudi trade fairs too. The most popular exhibition in which German companies traditionally participate as exhibitors and visitors is the Saudi Build exhibition. Around a dozen German companies are expected to present themselves in the German Pavilion this month.
In the field of knowledge transfer, Gesalo is going to organize a one-day seminar in Riyadh in cooperation with the German Energy Agency on renewable energy (geothermal), by the end of this month. Besides, Gesalo successfully conducted a special event on Saudi Arabia at the world’s largest trade fair on environmental solutions (IFAT) in Munich in May this year with the title “Innovative Saudi Arabian Projects in the Water Industry” at which the Kingdom was officially represented by the Ministry of Electricity and Water.
The event served as a platform for the scientific and business exchange between experts from Germany and Saudi Arabia and achieved a great level of satisfaction with the participants. According to Gesalo chief, companies in Germany still lack a realistic picture of the Kingdom and simply do not get enough information about the true life in Saudi Arabia, which deserves a lot more interest and attention.