MADINA: A United States plan to host 26 Saudi business delegations in the next 20 months was revealed Sunday by Amer Kayani, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the American embassy in the Kingdom. The plan is aimed at supporting bilateral trade. In a statement, Kayani said US companies want to do business with Saudi companies seeking to diversify away from the oil industry. He said that Saudi firms falling under American-owned companies have provided many jobs and are paying salaries totaling hundreds of millions every year. They have also allocated huge budgets for research and development. He said recent statistics show the volume of commercial exchange between Saudi Arabia and the US in 2010 amounted to $43 billion, or SR161.25 billion. He said the US Ministry of Trade has praised the country's infrastructure which has been achieved by massive State spending.
