JEDDAH, 19 November 2007 — A 21-company trade mission opened for business with a reception at the British Consulate in Jeddah on Saturday. For two-thirds of the companies offering goods and services, this was the first visit to Saudi Arabia.The delegation, the second this year, was led by David Lloyd on behalf of the Middle East Association (MEA) and facilitated by UK Trade and Industry.
“Some of the companies are here for the second time very much encouraged by their previous visit,” said Lloyd, delegation leader and senior consultant to the MEA now on his fifth mission to the Kingdom. “Loakes, the shoemakers, did very well last time round and have proved popular here.”
The delegation includes educators and trainers and manufacturers, which Lloyd saw as vital to the future of Saudi Arabia’s intended knowledge-based economy.
Lloyd said that the mix of companies on this visit had changed somewhat from the April mission this year as more manufacturers had opted for a visit.
The products presented ranged from small but essential electrical accessories, by the Wandsworth Group, for hospitals — particularly nurse call systems through technical furniture, consoles and cabinets for power stations to ships Winsted Ltd — to specialized seals for fluid and power industries, Hallite Seal International and fire detection equipment, Hochiki Europe Ltd.
Lloyd said that he was frequently asked, often by bankers, why more British companies did not visit the Kingdom. He thought the message to British companies was to forget the prejudices and try harder. Speculating on the way that Saudi Arabia had been portrayed over the year by some sections of the media, he drew particular attention to the press.
“The name of Saudi Arabia is though beginning to percolate through to UK industry,” said Lloyd, “though it is still hard work from our point of view.”
He thought that people may have personal and sometimes unflattering views of the Kingdom or that they had no views at all. “That bothers me no end. The MEA spends a lot of time putting Saudi into the public domain — telling them that it is a safe place to do business, it is the biggest market in the Middle East and that they pass it by at their peril,” he mused. “The opportunities are anything and everything. There is not one person on this mission whose product can’t be sold here.”
