Osama Al-Kurdi, head of the Saudi-US Parliamentary Friendship Committee led the Saudi team.
Abdul Rahman Al-Barrak, deputy Speaker of the Shoura Council, Saleh Al-Namlah, chairman of the Shoura Foreign Affairs Committee, and US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Smith were also present during the talks.
During the meeting in Washington, the two heads of state agreed on the need to press for Middle East peace, including establishing a Palestinian homeland.
The two parties discussed a number of topics and issues of common interests between the two countries in various fields.
Ever since a joint committee for economic cooperation was set up in 1974 between the two countries, Saudi-American relations have been growing steadily in political, economic, social and cultural fields. The signing of a number of bilateral agreements and memorandum of understanding between the two countries has broadened the areas of bilateral cooperation by creating 357 joint venture projects in the Kingdom worth SR82 billion.
The United States is the Kingdom’s largest trade partner and the biggest investor.
The other members of US delegation included Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware, a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs.
During a recent visit to the Kingdom, former US Defense Secretary William Cohen welcomed the Kingdom’s proposal to set up the King Abdullah Nuclear and Renewable Energy City in Riyadh and said his country would be happy to participate in some of the investment projects.
He said the new technology would not only benefit Saudi Arabia but it could be exported to the other countries in the region.
Cohen was focusing on discussing joint venture projects with the Saudi businessmen on financial and information technology services.
