Minister Al-Khorayef concludes successful visit to Australia: Saudi Arabia is open for business and tourism.

By: SA News.

The Honorable ,Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi Minister for Industry and Mineral Resources concluded a successful visit to Australia.

The visit focused on deepening Saudi Australia strong relationships and advancing shared priorities, including investment opportunities in the Kingdom’s mining sector, to attract qualitative investments to the Kingdom, and discuss areas of cooperation and investment opportunities between the two countries, to promote the growth and development of the two sectors, benefit from successful international experiences and exchange expertise with Australia.

During his visit, Minister Al-Khorayef,  has opened the Saudi Pavilion at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) held in Sydney, Australia between November 2 and 4 2022, which was attended by more 7,500 delegates and more than 470 companies and organisations where global mining leaders connected with technology, finance, together with the message that Saudi Arabia is open for business and for tourism.

The Minister confirmed during the meetings he held in Australia that Saudi Arabia is an important trading partner for Australia in the Middle East and that there is significant potential for economic ties to grow particularly in the areas of agriculture, mining services, education and construction with many opportunities arising and existing and potential collaborations including Food and Beverages Processing as well as Mining, Monitoring and Evaluation, Petroleum, Coal, Chemicals, Aluminum, Rubber, Fertilizers and Metals.

Across the week, the Saudi delegation aimed to enhance cooperation in the industrial, mining and critical minerals sectors and supply chains and to expand cooperation in innovation and R&D. They also introduced and promoted Saudi products and explored increased collaboration on export and import between Australian Made and Saudi Made.

Meetings were held with state and federal ministers, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australian Stock Exchange, Australian Made and the heads of Australian and international investment and mining companies.

The new Ministry is part of a national industrial strategy to diversify the country’s economic base in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. A key part of that strategy is to exploit the Kingdom’s mineral wealth to transform the country into a leading industrial and mining powerhouse and make mining the third pillar of the national industry.

Since the launch of Vision 2030 in 2016, the Kingdom has issued 145 licenses and attracted US$8 billion from foreign direct investment and the goal now is for the mining and mineral production sector to attract further investments worth $32 billion with the aim of increasing the contribution of the mining sector to the Saudi GDP to a target of 64 billion US dollars by 2030.

As part of the strategy to accelerate exploration, Minister Al-Khorayef announced a range of mining and exploration investment, collaboration and licence opportunities including five new copper, zinc, silver and lead ore collaborations between the Ministry and Australian and other international companies.

Full details of the application process for licences are still to be announced but Minister Al-Khorayef, who has 27 years’ experience in investment in Saudi Arabia and is chair of the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technical Zones, told delegates there will be an open process of public competitive tender in line with Saudi Arabia’s mining investment regulations to achieve justice and transparency in competitive processes and integrate the legislative environment with policies and infrastructure to provide an attractive environment for local and global investments.

With the Kingdom’s national industrial strategy largely built on the role of the private sector creating an agile and competitive sustainable industrial economy, he said the role of government is to provide the right environment for strategic international partnerships with the private sector to thrive and take the lead – similar to that which the Kingdom has with the United States – with the overall goal being to cultivate innovation and know-how, to grow the industrial base and unlock international trade and build world class supply chains.

The Kingdom was positioned as a highly attractive market for international investment with the availability of capital and high purchasing power; stable political and monetary policies; an evolving regulatory environment determined to ensure transparency and ease of conducting business; an abundance of natural and energy resources waiting to be exploited and the country’s regional leadership and geographic position in the middle of the world making Saudi Arabia an ideal place for investment and exports.

Australia and Saudi Arabia relations

Saudi Arabia and Australia have a long-standing and friendly relationship  it was progressed significantly in recent years and moved from normal relations to relations of mutual trust and partnership in various fields. Australian government has stressed on the importance of achieving economical and investment partnerships between Australia and the Saudi Arabia in multiple fields. Saudi Arabia and Australia have also worked together in the fight against extremism and terrorism for stability and peace in the world. The growth and increasing number of Saudis who are receiving scholarships, education and postgraduate studies in Australian universities is an important factor in the development of these bilateral relations and in promoting humanitarian relations between the two countries on more than one level. Australia and Saudi Arabia currently enjoy a friendly and cooperative relation- ship, based on extensive trade relations as well as people-to- people contacts. The two countries also cooperate through the Group 20.

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