"This delegation is looking for new partners to boost its exports, especially in the health care sector's education and training, and engineering and IT fields," Tilo Mandry, the director of Health — Made in Germany at the Berlin-based Germany Trade & Invest GmbH who is heading the mission, told Arab News on the sidelines of a conference held at the Jeddah Hilton on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia is pursuing an enormous investment program. In 2011, the Kingdom has increased its health care investments to $18.3 billion. Medical infrastructure projects have led to a boom in the construction sector. The demand for imports in the field of medical equipment is particularly strong. It is against this background that the German delegation is here.

Mandry said 13 German associations of the health care industry are represented in the mission, which will also be touring Riyadh for two days from Sunday.

"With Saudi Arabia's ongoing drive for Saudization, which involves vocational training and qualification of the local youth, and its major budgetary allocations for health care, and education and training, we see good potential for German expertise and exports," he said, adding that delegations from Saudi Arabia are scheduled to visit Germany for some of its major trade exhibitions this year-end and next year.

Andreas Hergenroether, Riyadh-based delegate of German Industry & Commerce for Saudi Arabia and Yemen, said business and investment opportunities in the health care sector in Saudi Arabia are continuously increasing for German companies. "One of the key objectives of the Kingdom's five-year development plan is further raise and adapt the health care sector to the highest international standards, and that is where we with our expertise can play an effective role."

Hergenroether added that due to the high potential of the Saudi market and the increasing demand of German small and medium enterprises (SMEs), AHK Saudi Arabia and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Eastern Westphalia (IHK) based in Bielefeld have established the first Saudi Arabia Desk in Germany early this year.

He said the aim of the desk is to intensify bilateral economic relations. IHK is the first contract partner for SMEs in North Rhine-Westphalia and the whole of Germany with regard to information and consultancy business in Saudi Arabia.

"The success of German products, however, does not apply only to the health care sector but also to products from many other fields," Hergenroether added. In 2010, Germany was the second most important exporter with a total export of about 1 trillion euros. Germany exported goods worth 5.7 billion euros to Saudi Arabia in 2010, an increase of 16 percent. The trend continues this year as German exports to Saudi Arabia rose by almost 20 percent to 3.2 billion euros in the first half of this year.

"The excellent reputation of the German health care system and the high quality of German products and services are a key factor for the success of German medical solutions worldwide," he said.

German companies like Siemens, Fresenius, B.Braun and Drager have become long-term partners in numerous medical projects in the Kingdom, Hergenroether said.