RIYADH, 14 June — The Kingdom and Austria, which have started negotiations on four major agreements including a security cooperation accord, are set to enter a new era of cooperation, Austrian diplomats said here yesterday.
A delegation comprising senior officials from the Ministry of Interior will be leaving for Vienna on Monday to discuss cooperation in the security sector — a subject raised by Austrian President Thomas Klestil during his visit to Saudi Arabia in October last year.
“The three-day visit of the Interior Ministry officials mainly drawn from major security agencies including the Passport Department, Public Security and Border Guards comes in response to an invitation from the Austrian Public Security Police,” Dr. Harald Wiesner, Austrian ambassador, told Arab News.
Referring to the joint efforts exerted by the two countries for strengthening bilateral ties, Dr. Wiesner said the Shoura Council and the Austrian Parliament have ratified an investment protection agreement, the fourth bilateral accord to be implemented by the Kingdom and an EU country. This agreement will be effective 90 days from the date of the exchange of instruments.
This is in addition to the double taxation agreement on which negotiations have already started. A new commercial agreement will also be endorsed shortly to modify the provisions of an existing accord, which created a joint economic commission earlier.
Dr. Wiesner and Oskar Wustinger, deputy head of the Austrian mission and minister counselor, said the Kingdom is one of the most important trading partners of Austria in the Middle East and that his country’s exports to the Kingdom shot up by over six percent last year. Austrian imports, on the other hand, have reported 4.7 percent growth during the same period.
Referring to negotiations to establish direct air links between the two countries, the diplomats said the final round of talks will take place in Vienna on July 15. Any accord will benefit a growing number of visitors from the two countries. The Austrian Embassy issued 3,476 visas in the year 2000, according to Klaus Pregler, an attache at the embassy.
Pregler explained that Riyadh and Vienna have reported consistent growth in tourism traffic, especially during the summer because the central European country has a lot to offer to summer tourists.
“Visas are generally issued for a short stay, valid for the whole Schengen area, but an Austrian visa can also be issued in exceptional cases,” said Pregler.
