RIYADH, 15 May — The Kingdom is negotiating an agreement with Germany for the avoidance of double taxation between the two countries as part of a move to bolster bilateral investment, according to Dr. Jobara Al-Soraisry, deputy minister of finance for international cooperation.
He was speaking at the start of a two-day matchmaking event organized by the Baden-Wurttemberg Agency for International Economic Cooperation.
Dr. Al-Soraisry said the Kingdom had already concluded such an agreement with various countries, while negotiations were under way with several others.
He expressed hope that the treaty would give a boost to German investment in the Kingdom, currently around $400 million.
One of the benefits of such an agreement, he pointed out, was that the nationals of those countries would not be taxed when the income tax rule becomes mandatory here.
German exports to the Kingdom stood at around $ 2.5 billion last year.
Dr. Walter Doring, deputy prime minister and minister of economic affairs of Baden-Wurttemberg, said his province accounted for almost 20 percent of those exports, or $510 million — 23 percent more than in the previous year.
He added that these figures needed to be improved, since Germany, the Kingdom’s fourth largest trading partner, was still lagging behind others in spite of its technological strength.
Earlier, Oliver Parche, assistant secretary general of German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office, referred to the high level of interest in German products and technology. This was evident from almost 220 meetings that the German delegates had in Jeddah with their Saudi counterparts and the more than 340 meetings lined up in Riyadh.
Saleh Al-Athel, secretary-general of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Germany, which ranks fourth among the Kingdom’s trading partners, should consider going into joint ventures for the manufacture of consumer products in the Kingdom.
He said this would diversify the investment pattern, since there were already large-scale joint ventures in the petrochemical sector. Moreover, it would encourage the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which constitute more than 80 percent of the members of the Riyadh chamber.
