Meeting with Saudi Arabia’s businesspeople
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with the heads of leading companies and financial structures of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah.
The event was attended by the Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih, as well as heads of about 20 largest companies and corporations of Saudi Arabia, such as ACWA Power, SABIC, Saudi National Bank, Al Rajhi Capital, Ma'aden, Petromin, Jamjoom Pharma, SEDCO, Salic, Albawani, Ajlan & Bros, Desert Technologies, and others.
Meetings with business community representatives during the foreign visits of the President of Uzbekistan are traditional. They allow determining the points of contact of interests, prospects for industrial and investment cooperation.
Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia have a huge potential to bring relations to a qualitatively new level, primarily in trade-economic sphere. In recent years, meetings of the Intergovernmental Commission and the Business Council have been held regularly. The trade turnover is growing. Joint ventures are being created.
The President noted that during the talks held yesterday with the Crown Prince, agreements were reached on a multiple increase in the volume of bilateral trade, full support for the initiatives of businesspeople and financing of investment projects.
All this creates great opportunities for business partnerships. In particular, Uzbekistan creates the most favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, expanding the presence of foreign capital.
The experience of several Saudi companies that have been successfully operating in Uzbekistan for several years was noted. So, at present, large energy projects worth $2 billion 600 million are being implemented together with ACWA Power.
The participants’ attention was drawn to the unprecedented results of the Uzbekistan – Saudi Arabia Business Council held on the eve of the visit. Following the event, agreements on the implementation of projects worth more than $14 billion were signed.
It was emphasized that there have been no breakthrough agreements in 30 years, and work on creating better conditions for Saudi partners will continue.
The President of Uzbekistan called on Saudi companies to work even more closely to develop and implement new projects.
At the meeting, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev revealed his vision for further building bilateral cooperation. Thus, Saudi business is invited to participate in the privatization processes of large banks, industrial and infrastructure facilities held in Uzbekistan. The sphere of green energy and the green economy was named one of the most promising for the implementation of joint projects.
The Uzbek side, as noted, is ready for active joint work on the construction of wind farms, the production of green hydrogen, the development of alternative energy, deepening the digitalization of industry and conducting joint scientific research.
The Leader of the country stressed Uzbekistan’s interest in enhancing partnerships in the digital economy, bio- and nanotechnology, software, innovation and artificial intelligence.
It was proposed to pay special attention to the implementation of projects for the production of food products, in healthcare and tourism.
With the participation of the Saudi Fund for Development, it is also planned to continue work on improving infrastructure projects in water and electricity supply.
Responding to the invitation to cooperate, the heads of companies, holdings and corporations of Saudi Arabia highly appreciated the conditions created in Uzbekistan for active business. In their speeches, they shared plans for implementing joint projects in the country, their vision of prospects for developing contacts and interaction in a wide range of areas.
Having carefully listened to the proposals and opinions of Saudi partners, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed that strict control will be established over the implementation of all projects.
Responsible persons were instructed to adopt a comprehensive Action Plan indicating effective mechanisms and specific deadlines for implementation. Thus, in certain areas, the heads of relevant ministries and agencies will be personally responsible for the implementation of all agreements reached during the visit.
