German Ambassador Dieter W. Haller expressed his appreciation to the German community and to Saudi businessmen who attended a dinner to celebrate German National Day at the Movenpick Hotel in Alkhobar on Thursday.

“We marked German National Day in Riyadh on Oct. 3, but we also celebrated it in the Eastern Province on Thursday. This was done in order to include Saudi officials, businessmen and German nationals in the Eastern Province,” he told Arab News.

“Holding the celebration was one way to make Saudis in the region, particularly businessmen and the German community, establish closer contact with the embassy in Riyadh,” he said.

Haller that a German desk was opened at the Eastern Province Chamber in Jubail for the convenience of both Saudi and German businessmen.

“The new German desk will speed up and facilitate communication between businessmen in Saudi Arabia and their counterparts in Germany,” he said.

He expressed hope that enhanced communication would further result in increased trade between the private sectors of the two countries.

“The business community in the Eastern Province is vibrant and dynamic. This has contributed in no small way to increasing bilateral trade between the two countries. At present, Germany is the third biggest trading partner of Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The German ambassador also opened a center in Alkhobar in January “to make it easier for Saudi nationals to apply for a visa to visit Germany.”

He said that the German Embassy has received positive feedback from Saudi nationals regarding the visa application center.

The opening of the center would shorten visa application times and ensure the provision of paperwork needed for traveling to Germany, he said.

He added that the embassy is looking forward to launching other projects to increase services to Saudi and German nationals in the Eastern Province.

“The initiatives that we have embarked upon are footprints for which the embassy will be remembered. They are also an indication of how much I have enjoyed working with fellow Saudis and serving German compatriots in Saudi Arabia,” the German ambassador said.