Annabel Fogden, head, world trade, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who leads the delegation, said the delegates mainly belonged to the service industry and were involved in individual meetings with the business community. The team also visited some major business houses.
"We are looking at the Kingdom's IT sector in particular as the companies on the mission are mostly consultancies and involved in service-related activities," she said during a reception hosted to the delegation by British Consul General Kate Rudd.
"The world trade team of the London chamber promotes the business interests of chamber members in international markets," Fogden added. The trade mission is organized by the UK Trade & Investment, a government body that supports both companies in the UK trading internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to set up or expand in the UK.
Fogden said all seven companies on the mission were well established representing a range of products and services. Barring one company that already has a local representation, the other six are here for the first time and keen on forging partnerships.
A JCCI official, who received the group, said efforts were being made to promote close cooperation between the chambers of Jeddah and London. "We hope this will pave the way for constantly updating vital information on the member-companies of the two chambers that for the mutual benefit of both," he added.
The delegation includes a boutique consultancy specializing in banks and financial institutions providing project advisory. There are other consultancies offering high-quality training solutions to the financial services sector, providing tailored solutions for power generation, offering interpretation and translation services, promoting business training and outreach campaigns, advising on real estate project investment, providing reputational risk and corporate governance, as well as offering design for the construction industry and social e-care solutions.
