JEDDAH, 16 May 2004 — As part of a drive to boost economic ties with the Kingdom, France’s Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos met with officials in Riyadh and Jeddah yesterday focusing on new investment and joint venture prospects.
He arrived in the capital on Friday night with executives of 30 French companies.
Following the Kingdom’s opening up of some sectors to foreign investors, France is seeking contracts in areas like management of airports and highways, water desalination and telecommunications.
Loos met Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Trade and Industry Minister Hashem Yamani, Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hosayn and Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry.
Enhancing economic cooperation, mainly in the investment sector, was the central theme of his talks with Al-Assaf. In his discussion with Yamani, he explored “ways of increasing bilateral trade and setting up joint ventures between the private sectors of the two friendly countries,” the French Embassy said.
French investment in Saudi Arabia tops $1.2 billion, making France the third biggest foreign investor in the Kingdom.
Although bilateral trade marked a 12 percent increase in dollars in 2003, French exports dropped by 6.9 percent and imports by 5.9 percent in terms of euros, the French Embassy’s commercial department said.
“The decrease in Saudi-French trade in 2003 is due to the rise of the euro, which had an impact on both our exports and imports,” the French economic department explained.
Bilateral trade dropped from 3.8 billion euros in 2002 to 3.56 billion euros in 2003. France accounts for four to five percent of the Kingdom’s overseas trade.
At a reception hosted by French Ambassador Bernard Poletti here last night, Loos said: “We want our economic links to be stronger than what they are. We already have a lot of economic activities here, but we could have many more.”
Loos said his country had the “best of agreements” with the Kingdom, ranging from investment protection to taxation. “We’re also close to arriving at a decision on free trade between the European Union and the Gulf. All these should make us stronger than before,” he said.
Loos paid tribute to the local French expat community and said: “We appreciate the work they do for the Kingdom and their home country and we know the kind of risks they face. We would like to infuse confidence and reassure them that we have full confidence in the future of Kingdom.”
