Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Suresh Kumar, assistant secretary for trade promotion and director general of the US & Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS), who is leading a delegation of 15 major companies, said the mission would continue to strengthen bilateral commercial relationship with Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the Middle East.
He said the mission is introducing US information and communication technology suppliers to end-users and prospective partners from the Kingdom. He confirmed that the meetings these companies held with Saudi counterparts in Riyadh and Jeddah so far are very constructive.
The Saudi market presents excellent opportunities for US manufacturers and suppliers of DSL access switches, fiber-optic satellite links, wideband transceivers, network protocol software and systems, PCs and notebook computers, and IT accessories and services. According to available data, these product categories collectively generated sales that reached $2.9 billion, including about $1 billion for IT services.
The US trade delegation includes representatives from Yahoo! Middle East, Chatsworth Products, Inc., Cohu, Inc., Emcore Corporation, Gillani, Inc., HRSmart Inc., Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications, LLC, Boeing, Mechdyne Corporation, Nexgen Wireless, Inc., Polaris Wireless, SatWays, Inc., Team Askin Technolgies, Inc., Texas Memory Systems, Inc. and Trilogy Communications, Inc.
"As Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its economy beyond oil, American businesses have a great deal of experience and expertise to share with Saudi Arabia," Kumar said.
The ministers and private sector representatives of the Kingdom have invaluable insights to share about their country. "The Saudi market offers tremendous opportunity, and the United States wants to be a partner in its continuing efforts to diversify its dynamic economy," he added.
Amer M. Kayani, minister counselor for commercial affairs at the Embassy of the United States of America, Riyadh, said: "The Saudi-US trade is growing fast as the two countries enjoy tremendous trade relations." The bilateral trade between the two countries is about $63 billion.
About the US mission, Kumar said, now is the time to build on past commercial successes between the United States and Saudi Arabia to ensure a fruitful partnership continues well into the future. He added President Barack Obama set the goal of doubling US exports over five years, and this mission is one of the many ways we are working to accomplish this goal. "To win the future, we must work together to bring innovative US products and services to the 95 percent of consumers who live outside our borders," Kumar said.
When asked about the role played by USFCS in promoting trade, Kumar said, the extensive worldwide network of the USFCS extends to 109 offices across the US and 127 offices overseas in 77 countries. USFCS is the trade promotion arm of the US government that supports and provides customized solutions to US businesses so that they can compete and win in the global marketplace, he added.
