JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal opened the first Jeddah trade forum at Lailaty Hall here yesterday and urged participants to make proposals to remove the obstacles facing businessmen and women and boost the Kingdom's trade sector.
He stressed the need to revise the Kingdom's trade regulations in accordance with those of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
He also extended all-out support to businesswomen and said: "They have made tremendous progress in business and we are proud of them."
Prince Khaled said the Kingdom's annual exports and imports have crossed SR1 trillion and hoped the forum would contribute to further increasing the Kingdom's trade volume. "We hope that these kinds of forums would help increase the country's gross domestic product," he added.
More than 400 businessmen and officials and 200 businesswomen attended the opening session of the three-day event.
Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza said his ministry was currently working on a strategic plan to improve its services and facilitate trade in the Kingdom.
