Saudi Australian Business Council launches Sydney branch

Saudi Australian Business Council launches Sydney branch

Thursday 24th October – Sydney

NSW Trade & Investment and the Australian Industry Group hosted the launch of the Saudi Australian Business Council in Sydney this week. The event was held in the presence of the Saudi Ambassador H.E Nabil Al Saleh, the Chairman of Saudi Australian Business Council Tom Harley and the President of the New South Wales Legislative Council Don Harwin amongst many other delegates in Australian Trade and Development.

The Australia Saudi Business Council Inc. was established to develop and promote business and commercial links between Australia and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is Australia’s second largest trading partner in the Middle East with the total two way trade at 2.2 Billion dollars. With the initiation of the Saudi Australian business Council, both nations are confident in the increase of bilateral trade for mutual growth and development.

The Saudi Ambassador began his speech by giving his condolences to those affected by the NSW bushfire’s and the fire fighters risking their lives to assist those in need.

The Ambassador then continued to highlight the prosperity of the Kingdom and its achievements in modernisation and development. Mr Saleh also noted the Kingdom’s economic stability and rapid growth, having the largest economy in the Middle East with a GDP of 700 Billion dollars and a growth rate of 6.8% in 2012. The Kingdom also maintains itself as one of the worlds largest holders of foreign exchange reserves amounting to over 740 Billion dollars.

Mr Saleh also noted on the Kingdom’s various tactics and incentives to overcome the various economic challenges, including encouraging privatisation to encourage foreign investment and the reconstruction of various company laws. The Ambassador also said that the Kingdom is doing what it can to improve the ease of doing business and finding partners. This move has also been noted by the World Bank which has placed it amongst the worlds top 25 countries in doing business.

Tom Harley highlighted many positive examples of Australian business undertakings in Saudi Arabia, including the DowChemical petrochemical plant and its joint venture with Saudi Aramco. Mr Harley also recognised the importance of the 11,000 Saudi students in Australia, studying on the 500 million dollar King Abdullah scholarship. He noted that these students will return to the Kingdom with a valuable cultural outlook of Australia that will surely be beneficial in the future of bilateral relations.

Mr Harley also thanked the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Business council to continue promoting ties between the two nations for the betterment of future trade and development.

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