JEDDAH, 12 December 2006 — Germany looks forward to forge excellent bilateral partnership with Saudi Arabia, German Ambassador Jurgen Krieghoff, said on Sunday.
“Opportunities in the Kingdom’s booming economy are limitless and it’s now for German businessmen to explore the prospects and exploit the opportunities,” he told a breakfast meeting that also marked a catalog show of German companies at the Jeddah Hilton. On display at the show, opened jointly by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Secretary General Mustafa A.K. Sabri and the ambassador, were catalogs and brochures of products and services of 27 German companies. The catalog show continued for two days at the JCCI.
“Saudi Arabia is stable economically and politically and Germany has excellent products, technologies and services.
The two countries together can become excellent partners,” the ambassador said, adding that the two sides would continue with the exchange of high-level visits to promote further cooperation. “Our government can play an effective role in tackling the Middle East peace process,” he said.
The ambassador referred to the exchange of students between the two countries and said 50 Saudi students were in Germany pursuing higher studies. “Early next year, 78 more Saudi students will go to Germany,” he added.
Sabri said the cooperation between the two countries in various fields had earned the trust of both the business communities. “It requires sustained efforts to reach higher levels in economic cooperation,” he said and hoped that this would be possible with the excellent bilateral relations that the two countries already have. “After all, international economic challenges can be met with efforts based on cooperation and synergy,” Sabri said.
Gerd M. Doepner, delegate of German Industry and Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen, said the German Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs, which organized the event, was playing the role of bringing the two business communities closer for their mutual benefit. “We want to foster and deeper the bilateral economic ties. Our effort is to promote more interaction and identify the areas of cooperation for the two business communities,” he said.
