SINGAPORE, 12 April 2006 — Crown Prince Sultan yesterday emphasized Saudi Arabia’s look-East policy and called for strengthening Arab-Asian ties. “We are on the threshold of a new age of Arab-Asian cooperation,” he said.
Speaking at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, Sultan said Saudi Arabia would continue to play a leading role in stabilizing the world oil market. “We have launched a $50 billion program to increase output to 12.5 million barrels per day by 2009,” he said.
The crown prince was delivering a lecture on, “Asia-Middle East Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities.” The institute’s auditorium was filled with foreign diplomats, academics and leaders of business and industry.
“The volume of trade between Asia and Arab countries has increased threefold within a few years. The recent visits of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to a number of Asian countries came as an affirmation of this trend,” Sultan said.
The crown prince noted the initiative taken by Singapore last year to launch a dialogue between Asian and Middle Eastern countries in order to strengthen their cooperation. He expected tremendous growth in trade and investment exchange between the two sides.
Sultan welcomed Singaporean companies and businessmen to invest in the Kingdom’s key sectors such as desalination, power generation, gas exploration, minerals, air transport, airports, seaports, services and telecommunications.
Saudi Arabia is seeking investments worth $624 billion for these vital projects.
In his keynote address, Prince Sultan also spoke about Saudi Arabia’s efforts to fight terrorism and its financiers.
“Terrorism is an epidemic that threatens the whole world,” he said, adding that terrorist acts are contrary to the teachings of Islam. Saudi Arabia “has emphasized its strong rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism,” he said.
The crown prince said he had agreed with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the need for strengthening Saudi-Singaporean cooperation to fight terror.
Speaking about the oil market, he said: “Saudi Arabia has worked constantly to fulfill its promises for stabilizing the oil market in order to support the development of the world economy.”
Sultan, who is on an Asian tour, earlier called on Singapore’s leaders to boost bilateral cooperation. He talked to President S.R. Nathan and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, who visited the Kingdom last month.
Prime Minister Lee and Sultan, the highest ranking Saudi official to visit Singapore, witnessed the signing Monday of four landmark agreements, including two economic pacts designed to promote greater investment flows between the two countries.
Lee hailed the royal visit as “a milestone in Singapore-Saudi relations.” He described the agreements as “important steps in cementing our growing economic ties.”
Underscoring Saudi Arabia’s leading role in the Islamic world, Lee said, “It stands with the international community in the promotion of world peace and stability.”
The Kingdom is Singapore’s largest trading partner in the Middle East. Bilateral trade last year increased by more than 50 percent to $10 billion.
“We are identifying potential areas for mutual cooperation, including projects in King Abdullah Economic City,” which is a 55 million square meter metropolis to be built over 10 years, Lee said.
Ten Saudi students are to be awarded scholarships to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, he added. Noting that both countries are short of water, Lee said that Singapore was exploring joint technical research in water-treatment projects with Saudi Arabia.
