Italian Ambassador Mario Boffo has called for setting up graduate training programs for thousands of Saudi scholarship students in Italy following graduation from top European universities and institutes at a recent meeting with officials at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).

The ambassador said the training schemes will give Saudi graduates the opportunity to take advantage and learn from world-class Italian technological institutions in order to transfer their skills to Saudi markets, as well as boost Saudi-Italian cooperation ties in the educational, economic and social fields.

Adnan Mandourah, secretary-general of the JCCI, welcomed the Italian proposal, pointing that the real wealth of the Kingdom is largely concentrated in their human resources before anything else and that consequently, any investment targeting youth will yield great benefit and contribute to the Kingdom’s growth in the upcoming years.

Mandourah said Italy is one of the largest main-trade partners of the Kingdom, as the annual volume of trade exchange between the two countries has increased by 25 percent in recent years.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to SR 29 billion in 2011, which still fell below expectations in comparison with the SR 40 billion in trade exchange achieved in 2008.

Mandourah said the Kingdom’s imports from Italy amounted to more than SR 17 billion in 2008, making Italy rank seventh among the ten largest exporting countries to the Kingdom, while Saudi exports to Italy in the same year reached SR 23 billion, placing Italy twelfth in the list of Kingdom export countries.

Mandourah said there were a total of 97 licensed and joint Saudi-Italian projects established in the Kingdom with a total capital of over than SR 11 billion.

In the same vein, a Malaysian trade delegation from the Association of Malaysia’s Bumiputra Muslim Manufacturers and Services Industries (PPIPBM) led by Malaysian Consul General Mohamed Khalid Abbasi Abdul Razak will visit the JCCI today on the sidelines of their four-day visit to Saudi Arabia.

The delegation will also attend business meetings and briefings will be held to discuss joint investment opportunities in a variety of fields, most notably metal industries, real estate and engineering services.

A similar program will be held in Madinah tomorrow. Malaysian manufacturers will visit Saudi companies in Jeddah and Madinah.

The delegation will also participate in the exhibition of Saudi Food, Hotel & Hospitality Arabia.