King’s Asia tour to expand trade ties: Business leaders

Saudi Arabia's King Salman speaks with Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony in Putrajaya, Malaysia on Monday. (Reuters)

RIYADH: Private sector and business leaders have expressed optimism over the visit of King Salman to Malaysia and other Asian countries.
The king’s visit is an opportunity to encourage joint action between the Kingdom and the visited Asian countries, and remove obstacles that may obstruct exchange of goods, investments, and technology transfer to the Kingdom, local media said.
Subhi Mohammed Al-Hashim, deputy chairman of the Saudi-Japanese Business Council, said the business community in the Kingdom will reap the fruits of global visits led by King Salman.
Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan, deputy chairman of the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, underscored the importance of the king’s visit to these Asian countries.
The visit comes at a delicate time and is expected to have a positive impact on bilateral relations between the Kingdom and these countries at economic, political, military and cultural levels, he said.
The king’s visit to China is expected to witness the signing of a series of agreements between the two countries in trade, industrial and military fields, he said.
The volume of the Kingdom’s exports to China and Japan ranged between 56-65 percent of the Kingdom’s total exports last year, he said.
Additionally, Indonesia and Malaysia are considered key partners to the Kingdom on issues related to the Islamic world, he said.
Abdulaziz bin Saad Al-Kiraidis, an investor, said the king’s visit to China is important in light of tremendous growth in the volume of trade between the two countries, from $100 million in 1990 to $75 billion in 2016. China remains the greatest trade partner to the Kingdom in light of its huge oil imports from the Kingdom, he said.
Mohammed Mustafa bin Mohammed Siddiq, former member of the Saudi-Malaysian Business Council, said the King’s Asian tour, notably the Malaysian visit, would serve the joint efforts of the private sector in the two countries. Meetings between businessmen will create more partnerships, thanks to the common understanding between the two leaderships in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, he said.
Ahmed Al-Rajihi, chairman of the board of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the king’s current visit to Malaysia will open new avenues for economic cooperation between the two countries in line with Vision 2030.
Fahad Al-Sulami, a member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the king’s Asian tour is the best means to remove any obstacles and create stimuli to increase the volume of trade exchange and expand the Kingdom’s exports.