Economic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America began on February 23 of 1930, and became closer in 1931 at the time of starting commercial flow of Saudi oil and the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud's granting of the right of oil exploration to the American company (Standard Oil) with a 66-year contract . 1932 is considered as a special year for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States, where the two countries witnessed two important events, first: the unification of Saudi State under the name of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and signing of the interim trade diplomatic agreement between the two countries. The second one was the US's breaking of its isolation from the outside world and its support for its companies and investments abroad. The number of US companies, which was founded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the seventies Hijra over (200 companies). The Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), was formed and which was known later as (Saudi Aramco) and wholly owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1972, the total value of the Kingdom's imported goods and materials from United States was $ 314 million, and the Kingdom's exports were $ 194 million. In June 8 ,1974, economic relations between the two countries moved on to a new phase of cooperation, after the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud signed a joint statement with the United States on establishment of the US-Saudi Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation to meet the Kingdom's needs from materials and expertise at the stage where the Kingdom was experiencing a dramatic increase in development projects. Trade and economic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and America were subjected to several agreements, particularly the (Technical Cooperation between the Governments of the two countries) . The Kingdom and America signed another cooperation agreement in order to increase the volume of partnerships among US private companies in local projects in the Kingdom, which contribute to the introduction of modern technology to the country. Today, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest stable economy in the Middle East, and is characterized by its active membership in the major economic Group of Twenty, in addition to its membership in the World Trade Organization, and having the largest foreign reserves on the basis of per capita average. The Kingdom seeks to continue to be an oasis of stability in the Middle East and the basic engine to the wheel of economic growth in the region despite the turmoil experienced by the region currently. In this context, the Kingdom and the United States enjoy strong economic and trade relations supported by common interests. In 2013, the volume of Kingdom's exports to America amounted to SR 119,1 billion, representing %14,12 of the Kingdom's total exports to the world in the same year. Meanwhile, the value of the Kingdom's imports from the United States in 2013 reached SR 85,4 billion, representing %13,54 of the total value of the Kingdom's imports of the same year from the world. Observers stress that the Saudi-US relations have reached a level of maturity, and the two countries are keen to maintain and develop them under different circumstances, to become stronger and durable in the future. Statistics revealed that the total US direct investment in the Kingdom amounted to about $ 10,55 billion in 2013. The Kingdom's Kings and US Presidents were keen to enhance and maintain the distinguished relations during the past 8 decades, as the Saudi-US relations dated back to1352 H. The participation of the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Salam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the Saudi-US Investment forum, that held by Saudi-American Business Council, Saudi Chambers and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, gave a number of signs to the American business community that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia determines to grant investment opportunities to the American companies, facilitate their operations and enhance the partnership between the two countries in the field of investment. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques stressed, in his given speech, that the United States is the largest trading partner of the Kingdom, and US investors are among the first and largest investors. The visit of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, witnessed many economic activities, as he met with a number of US officials and discussed ways to develop relations to serve the two countries' interests. The Deputy Crown Prince's meetings focused on the efforts in combating terrorism, the Kingdom's Vision 2030, trade and investment between the two countries, and localization of military industries. A number of cooperation agreements were signed in this regard. Also, the Deputy Crown Prince met with US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and discussed with him a number of topics, including research, technology, energy efficiency, computing and renewable energy, as well as current developments in the petroleum market and support for the joint efforts to stabilize energy markets. On Ramadan 19 , 1437, a number of Saudi Ministers participated in the meetings of Saudi-American Business Council, in conjunction with the visit of the Deputy Crown Prince to the United States. The meetings discussed means of improving investment environment, diversifying the national economy in terms of growth in sectors and localization, privatization in terms of increased private sector participation, as well as the vision of the Kingdom 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020. During the Saudi-American Business Council's meeting, Minister of Commerce and Industry Engineer Majed Al-Qasabi gave a speech where he pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has many huge investment opportunities, ranging from conventional oil, gas and chemicals, mining and services sectors, information and communications technology, biotechnology, renewable energy, nanotechnology, entrepreneurship, entertainment and economic cities. Engineer Al-Qasabi added that the Kingdom enjoys a large economic market with a gross domestic product of ($ 800 billion), as well as a large number of national young talents. In this regard, Vice President of the Saudi-American Business Council David Callahan stressed that US side is interesting in increasing the volume of investment in the Kingdom at the level of giant, medium and small enterprises.
