An eight-member German parliamentary delegation held talks in Riyadh with senior Saudi officials of the Shoura Council, Ministry of Interior and Saudi Border Guard.
The talks of the German lawmakers focused on how to further boost bilateral links in different sectors, while specifically evaluating progresses and challenges faced by the Kingdom and Germany on key bilateral and regional issues.
“The visit of the parliamentary delegation led by a prominent parliamentarian Dr. Hans-Peter UHL will further strengthen Saudi-German relations in several dimensions, especially in the field of parliamentary affairs,” said German Ambassador Dieter W. Haller. He said that Saudi Arabia and Germany had maintained good relations in all fields, but the cooperation and the exchange at the bilateral level, as well as regionally, and in the field of trade and investment should be expanded further.
The German delegation comprising parliamentarians like Ulla Jelpke, Stephan Mayer, Serkan Toren, Wolfgang Wieland, Heinz-Willi Heynckes and Samir Grees would also visit Arar, a Saudi city located on Iraqi border, about 1,083 km northeast of Riyadh, said the envoy.
In Arar, the parliamentarians will interact with senior officials of the Border Guard and will also see for themselves how German police are providing training to the cadets of the Saudi Border Guards.
Asked about any cooperation agreement in the field of training Saudi guards, Haller said that the German police had been involved in a long-term operation deputing officers in Saudi Arabia to train border guards since 2008. He said that the Border Guard was an important wing of the Kingdom’s security apparatus.
The Riyadh-based Directorate General of Border Guard maintains the security of the Kingdom’s sea and land borders, whose cumulative length exceeds 8,000 km. The directorate has a number of key departments besides nine affiliated commands.
A delegation of the Shoura Council also visited Germany early this year. In fact, there has been a frequent exchange of visits by Saudi and German parliamentarians during the last five years.
A Saudi-German Parliamentary Friendship Committee has also been set up by the two sides to discuss ways to strengthen political, parliamentary, economic and cultural ties. Germany closely works with the Kingdom and has had identical approaches on several key regional issues, including Syria, Iran and Yemen as well as Middle East peace process.
German lawmakers hold talks in Riyadh to boost trade, investment
