The US catalogue exhibition, organized at Asharqia Chamber, proved to be successful as it saw a significant turnout of visitors.

Catalogs of over 70 American small- and medium-size companies were on display representing a wide range of sectors including oil and gas services, construction equipment, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, apparel, automotive parts, biotechnology, electrical power systems, food processing, industrial equipment, health care, IT, cosmetics, water and environmental technologies.

Asharqia Chamber Chairman Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed opened the event.

Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Wabel, US Consul General Joey Hood and Nasir Abbasi, counselor for the commercial affairs at the US Consulate in Dhahran, were also present.

“This catalogue show will help create a new platform for establishing US business contacts with Saudi Arabia and increase bilateral trade between the two countries,” said Abbasi.

In 2013, the two-way trade reached over $64 billion, of which Saudi exports to the US amounted to around $47 billion while its imports accounted for about $17 billion.

The Saudi-American trade relations are set to grow further, said Abbasi, adding that the US Commercial Service organized and led 16 trade delegations from the Kingdom to the US in 2013.

The US Commercial Service has also assisted more than 1,000 firms, many of them are new to the Saudi market, to introduce their products in the Kingdom, he said.

Abbasi highlighted the US support provided to a number of large scale projects in the Kingdom. He said the US Export-Import Bank last year approved a loan worth $4.9 billion for the Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical.

Another US giant, Alcoa Inc., in a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), is working on the world’s largest integrated aluminum smelter and rolling mills at the Kingdom’s Ras Al-Khair area.