The event was hosted by RCCI and attended by Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Labor Minister Adel Fakieh, Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah A. Zainal Alireza, members of the diplomatic corps., businessmen and senior government officials and members of the public and private sectors.

"This is an annual event geared to provide a platform for the local businessmen not only to greet one another but also to exchange their future plans and ideas to march ahead in their ventures," RCCI Chairman Abdulrahman Ali Al-Jeraisy told Arab News.

He said such healthy meetings will create a conducive environment in the trade so that the members of the business community will have a healthy competition in their respective businesses which would eventually contribute to the Kingdom's economy.

The recent projects such as the King Abdullah Financial City, Al-Sudairy Industrial City and Princess Nourah University for Women have generated a wide range of business, employment and investment opportunities in the capital.  

Al-Jeraisy said that the current boom in trade in the Kingdom will continue for the next two decades and there are plenty of new opportunities for young and new entrepreneurs to engage in lucrative businesses in all parts of the Kingdom. Referring to the foreign investments, the chairman said that the Kingdom was able to attract a sizable number of foreign direct investments to the Kingdom by way of its promising incentives." We hope to get more investments during the coming months because a good number of businessmen who came in trade delegations to the Kingdom have shown immense interest to invest in various projects in the Kingdom.

"We are very happy to meet our brothers in the business community to exchange our experiences. The Kingdom is marching forward in all businesses because of the wise policies of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who was interested in the economic development of the country," Dr. Abdullah Al-Hudaithi, chairman Merac Arabia Ltd, told Arab News.

Manie Al-Khelewy, managindg director of Saudi Advanced Services Company (SAS), suggested that there should be more meetings in a year to exchange our experiences in the field of businesses. "I wish that the meeting should be for a whole day where we can discuss several issues pertaining to our trade," Al-Khelewy said.

"Saudi Arabia is the best place in the world to do business," Paola Serra, general manager of Nour OSP and an Italian who has been in the Kingdom for the past 30 years, said. The Kingdom successfully overcame the global economic recession and it did not feel the pinch at all because of the wise economic policy implemented by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Serra said.

Saud Al-Suwaileh from the US-Saudi Business Council said the bilateral trade between the Kingdom and the United States have crossed $100 billion, which speaks for the vibrant economy of the Kingdom that allows businessmen to carry out transactions freely.