RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Australia have agreed to boost ties in education, commerce and counterterrorism efforts. Australia is also discussing with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to upgrade bilateral contacts by holding ministerial level dialogue as part of a wider consultation process.
“We have discussed ways and means to enhance the relationship between the Kingdom and Australia on the one hand and between Australia and the GCC on the other through increased cooperation in trade and investment, education links and counterterrorism,” said Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith after holding wide-ranging talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in Riyadh on Sunday.
Smith also held talks with Prince Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior. He called on GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah and Chairman of the Shoura Council Abdullah Al-Asheikh before leaving for Jeddah yesterday.
This is the first visit of an Australian foreign minister to Riyadh in five years. Smith is scheduled to meet Minister of Commerce and Industry Zainal Alireza today to discuss progress of negotiations on the Australia-GCC Free Trade Agreement. “We discussed the importance of intensified dialogue and cooperation to address regional and international security challenges, individual and collective responses to global economic crisis,” said Smith referring to his talks with Saudi officials.
In a statement obtained by Arab News, Smith said Australia places a high priority on enhancing relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
“Saudi Arabia is strategically significant, the world’s largest oil exporter and the largest economy in the Gulf ... Saudi Arabia is our second largest trade partner in the Gulf, with merchandise trade valued at $3.4 billion in 2008,” he said, adding that the Kingdom is Australia’s second largest market for passenger motor vehicles, worth $1 billion in 2008.
This is in addition to the increasing people-to-people contacts between Australia and Saudi Arabia, he added. More than 4,000 Australians live and work in Saudi Arabia, while about 7,000 Saudis study in various Australian educational institutions.
“We continue to discuss our individual and collective responses to the global financial and economic crisis,” said Smith, adding that the two countries share common interests in combating terrorism and extremism.
