The delegation will meet with leading Belgian politicians and the European Commissioner for Trade Karel de Gucht during the Saudi-European Economic Forum at the opening of Belgium’s Accenta 2011 trade fair on Saturday (Sept.10).
Accenta attracts more than 400 exhibitors and 90,000 visitors annually and will be held in Ghent’s Flanders Expo from Sept. 10-18, where Saudi Arabia will be this year’s official guest of honor.
The visit of the ministerial delegation highlights the growing bilateral trade relations between Saudi Arabia and Belgium, which are getting stronger year on year. In 2010, Saudi exports to Belgium surpassed 1.27 billion euros, an increase of 60 percent on the previous year.
Belgium’s exports to Saudi Arabia exceeded 1.03 billion euros, an increase of 10 percent on the previous year.
Diamonds formed the lion’s share of Saudi imports from Antwerp, the diamond capital of Europe and the continent’s second largest port.
To underscore the importance of the Kingdom’s trade relationship with Belgium, and in recognition of Belgium’s role as a key European Union member state, the Saudi-European Economic Forum will be held in Ghent on the first day of Accenta 2011.
High-level speakers at this conference will include Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former Saudi Ambassador to the UK and the United States, and Professor Herman De Croo, Belgian minister of state and former president of the federal Parliament of Belgium. Alireza will deliver the keynote speech at the forum.
Accenta 2011 and the forum will serve as a platform for business-to-business exchanges and will also highlight the dramatic advances Saudi Arabia has made in diversifying its economy over recent years.
It has established market-leading manufacturers across numerous sectors including finance, agriculture, petrochemicals, telecoms, food and furniture production.
Saudi Arabia’s pre-eminent position in the petroleum sector has tended to overshadow many of the extraordinary industrial success stories the country has achieved in recent years.
Given its status as one of the largest and longest running consumer trade fairs in Europe, Belgium’s Accenta 2011 will be a magnificent showcase for Saudi Arabia’s strong and increasingly diversified industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Many of the Kingdom’s largest industrial organizations are scheduled to participate in Accenta 2011. Saudi exhibitors include Al Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group, Al Abdullatif Industrial Investment Company, PetroRabigh, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corporation (SPIMACO), Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), The Savola Group, The National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET), Al Watania Plastics, Etmar Dates and Zamil Chem Plast.
A number of key government institutions active in the business sector will also be featured at Accenta, including the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON), the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu that manages two of the Kingdom’s world-class industrial cities, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and the Saudi Export Program.
Accenta 2011 will also highlight the thriving business environment, which Saudi Arabia offers.
The World Bank now ranks the Kingdom 11th among the world’s easiest places to do business.
This is a 56-place jump from 2005 and a striking demonstration of the far-reaching and effective reforms undertaken under Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
The multi-faceted reform strategy is well on its way to achieving its goal of making the Kingdom among the top 10 competitive economies worldwide. Moreover, despite robust public spending the Kingdom’s real GDP is expected to grow by a healthy seven percent in 2011 and its fiscal surplus by 12 percent.
Importantly, Saudi Arabia’s participation as the first Arab guest of honor at Accenta, a distinguished consumer trade fair and a European institution, which is now 66 years old, is a strong indication of the close and long-standing economic ties between Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
Europe has been a natural and sustained trading partner ever since the Kingdom was founded and, as the relationship with Belgium reveals, trade synergies are only increasing.