Norwegian Trade and Industry Minister Trond Giske has stressed the importance of extensive cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Norway in the area of renewable energy.

Giske, who is currently on a visit to the Kingdom, discussed joint investment opportunities with Saudi businessmen during a meeting at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on Wednesday. Giske revealed his country’s strong interest to develop greater cooperation with the Kingdom in trade, industry and technology.

RCCI Chairman Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil and other chamber members affirmed to the visiting dignitaries that the Saudi business sector was also looking forward to widen the scope of partnership and cooperation with their Norwegian counterparts.

While drawing attention to the Kingdom’s enormous investment opportunities supported by government’s liberal economic policies, Al-Zamil wondered at the low volume of mutual trade, which did not match the size of their economies.

“The volume of trade between the two countries, which did not go beyond $570 million in 2011, does not reflect the huge potential and opportunities of investment in the both the countries,” Al-Zamil said.

Giske said his visit to the Kingdom reflected the desire of Norwegians to support the efforts to sign a free mutual trade agreement between the GCC and the European Union for which negotiations have been under way over the past many years.

His country wanted to speed up the signing of this agreement after speedy removal of all obstacles in its way, the visiting minister said.

He said his country was particularly interested to make joint investments in the renewable energy sector. He added that there was opportunity for scientists of both the countries to cooperate in that sector as Norway possessed vast expertise in developing institutional performance, business environment, increased productivity and youth inventiveness besides offering rewarding job opportunities.

Al-Zamil steered the open discussion between the minister and the businessmen on the significance of extensive cooperation in sectors such as industry, contracting, real estate, commerce, exhibitions, and young entrepreneurship.