'Saudi-Arabië schort handel met Nederland op' #4

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'Saudi-Arabië schort handel met Nederland op'

Saudi-Arabië schort de handelsbetrekkingen met Nederland op. Dit meldt althans de zakenkrant Al Iqtisadiya op gezag van een anonieme bron bij de Saudische Raad van Kamers van Koophandel

Dat meldt het Spaanse persbureau EFE.

De beslissing zou zijn genomen op basis van een rapport van de Saudische ambassadeur in Nederland. Die zou naar huis hebben geschreven dat PVV-leider Geert Wilders zich vijandig opstelt jegens de islam en Saudi-Arabië.

De anonieme bron meldt dat Nederlandse bedrijven niet meer mogen meedoen aan toekomstige projecten in Saudi-Arabië. Ook komen er beperkingen op de verstrekking van visa aan Nederlanders

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British business to win share of $400bn Saudi Arabian infrastructure bonanza

Saudi Arabia's investment governor Abdullatif al-Othman says British companies have an "advantage" as kingdom unveils $400bn of projects

Saudi Arabia has opened its doors to British companies to invest and win a slice of its $400bn (£237bn) programme of infrastructure improvements, as the world’s biggest oil exporter seeks to boost development of its wider economy.

Abdullatif al-Othman, the governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) – a government body established to encourage investment in the kingdom – was in London last week with a powerful delegation of Saudi officials to meet with British companies. The purpose of the visit was to outline various opportunities in major rail, healthcare and construction projects that are opening up in the kingdom.

“UK companies have an advantage in Saudi Arabia due to the long-standing relationship and understanding between our two countries,” Al-Othman told The Telegraph.

"If you look at the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the UK, Britain has played a significant role in our development journey since the early years. There is an appreciation of what British companies can bring to the table.”

That relationship can be traced all the way back to the mid-19th century, when British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton disguised himself as a Muslim doctor in order to explore Arabia at a time when few “infidels” were allowed to venture into the region. Sir Richard was followed by the likes of TE Lawrence and Bertram Thoma,s who became the first European to cross Saudi’s infamous Rub al Khali, or "Empty Quarter" desert.

These strong cultural bonds have since blossomed into a strategic political and economic relationship between the two kingdoms.

Saudi is already Britain’s biggest trading partner in the region, accounting for £3.26bn of exports in 2012, while the kingdom is one of the biggest foreign investors in the UK. Estimates place the total value of Saudi Arabia’s investments in Britain in the region of £62bn. According to figures from UK Trade & Investment, British companies are active in the Saudi market, already investing in around 200 ventures worth an estimated £11.5bn.

More than 26,000 British expatriates are thought to be working in Saudi Arabia, with some of the UK’s biggest companies, such as Royal Dutch Shell and HSBC, maintaining a significant presence on the ground.

Large defence deals, such as the sale of Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets, have captured the headlines but Britain’s trade relationship with the Middle East’s largest economy is much broader. Recent successes include a £1bn deal for British education companies to set up technical training colleges in the kingdom.

Jaguar Land Rover’s plan to eventually set up a £200m assembly line in Saudi Arabia is also viewed as a model in terms of how British companies can take advantage of the kingdom’s vast potential as an export market and route into the wider Middle East.

“Come and invest and use Saudi Arabia as a springboard to the rest of the Middle East,” said Al-Othman. “Saudi Arabia’s location is the most strategic in the Middle East.”

With a rapidly growing population of 29m people, Saudi is the Gulf’s largest Arab country with a gross domestic product of £433bn. Much of this wealth is derived from the kingdom’s vast proven oil reserves, which at more than 250bn barrels account for a quarter of the entire world’s crude. Riyadh also plays a significant role on the world stage and is the only Arab country to stand in the ranks of the world’s most influential economies.

“It’s a remarkable transformation, in less than 100 years we have grown to become a G20 nation,” said Al-Othman.

Unlike many other oil-rich states in the six-strong Gulf Co-operation Council, Saudi Arabia allows 100pc ownership of a foreign business, which Al-Othman claims is a significant competitive advantage. For example, in the United Arab Emirates international companies must take a joint-venture partner on board unless they operate within one of the country’s many special business areas, called “free zones”.

Saudi Arabia has previously suffered from being perceived as a cash cow for international companies only interested in taking revenues out of the country. However, Al-Othman stressed that the kingdom wants to attract long-term partners when awarding major investment schemes, or contracts for projects. Companies that are prepared to invest in creating skilled employment opportunities for young Saudis will have the advantage, according to Al-Othman.

“The job of any government is to make society prosper and raise standards of living. In Saudi Arabia, we’re no different,” said Al-Othman.

A key strategic goal for Saudi Arabia is also to diversify its economy away from its dependence on oil-based industries and exports, and in this regard Al-Othman - who was previously part of the senior management of state-run oil producer Saudi Aramco - is looking to the UK as an example.

“In many ways the UK is a role model for the kingdom as it has created excellent healthcare, transport, engineering and innovation hubs,” he said.

Transportation and healthcare are major infrastructure priorities and more than $100bn worth of rail schemes are planned, or already under way in the kingdom. These include metro systems in major cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah. Urban metro schemes alone will account for £32bn of investments going forward. Industrial and high-speed rail lines are also planned to link Saudi Arabia’s Gulf and Red Sea coasts, which are separated by 1,000 kilometres of desert.

Billions of dollars have been earmarked by the country’s government to develop healthcare on a scale that would be unimaginable in the UK, or most other developed nations. Around 140 new hospitals could be built, effectively doubling the size of the Ministry of Heath, which currently runs 60pc of the country’s healthcare facilities. The government has allocated £60bn to its five-year healthcare improvement programme.

“We are seeing significant interest from British firms in these projects,” said Al Othman.

A major challenge for Saudi Arabia in attracting more foreign investment will be to change perceptions of the kingdom. Although its strict adherence to Sharia law and issues concerning the rights of woman have drawn some international criticism, the kingdom is undergoing a process of gradual liberalisation and modernisation under the leadership of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

The Dutch government was recently forced to send a diplomatic mission to Riyadh to diffuse tensions over anti-Islamic stickers distributed by far-right politician Geert Wilders. The episode had threatened to provoke a ban on Dutch companies in Saudi and endangered $2.7bn-worth of exports to the kingdom.

Despite these cultural sensitivities, Al-Othman says that the kingdom is opening up quickly and shrugging off the “misperception” of being a difficult place for foreign investors to access, work and do business.

“There is no doubt that we haven’t been doing enough to tell the story of Saudi Arabia. We can do more to change the misperceptions about the ease of doing business in the kingdom,” said Al-Othman.

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Op dinsdag 27 mei 2014 22:11 schreef Ronaldsen het volgende:
Ik heb de cijfers er maar even bij gezocht en het is te overzien http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/m(...)aoedi-arabie-art.htm