Saudi group to join under patronage of Belgian kingRIYADH — Commerce and Industry Abdullah Bin Ahmad Zainal will visit Belgium with a high-level delegation of Saudi business leaders to strengthen mutual trade ties with the host country. The delegation will meet with leading Belgian politicians and the European Commissioner for Trade during the Saudi-European Economic Forum at the opening of Belgium's Accenta 2011 trade fair on Sept. 10. Accenta attracts more than 400 exhibitors and 90,000 visitors annually and will be held in Ghent's Flanders Expo from Sept. 10-18, where the Saudi Arabia will be this year's official guest of honor. The visit of the Ministerial delegation highlights the growing bilateral trade relations between Belgium and Saudi Arabia which are getting stronger year on year. In 2010, Saudi exports to Belgium surpassed € 1.27 billion, an increase of 60 percent on the previous year. Belgium's exports to Saudi Arabia exceeded € 1.03 billion, an increase of 10 percent on the previous year. The lion's share of Saudi imports from Belgium were diamonds from Antwerp, the diamond capital of Europe and the continent's second largest port. To underscore the importance of Saudi's trade relationship with Belgium, and in recognition of Belgium's role as a key European Union member state, the Saudi-European Economic Forum will be held in Ghent on the first day of Accenta 2011. High-level speakers at this conference will include Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States, and Professor Herman De Croo, Belgian Minister of State and former president of the Federal Parliament of Belgium. The Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry, H.E. Abdullah bin Ahmad Zainal, will deliver the keynote speech at the Forum. Accenta 2011 and the Saudi-European Economic Forum will serve as a platform for business-to-business exchanges and will also highlight the dramatic advances Saudi Arabia has made in diversifying its economy over recent years. It has established market leading manufacturers across numerous sectors including finance, agriculture, petrochemicals, telecoms, food and furniture production. Saudi's pre-eminent position in the petroleum sector has tended to overshadow many of the extraordinary industrial success stories the country has achieved in recent years. Given its status as one of the largest and longest running consumer trade fairs in Europe, Belgium's Accenta 2011 will be a magnificent showcase for Saudi Arabia's strong and increasingly diversified industrial and manufacturing sectors. Many of the Kingdom's largest industrial organizations are scheduled to participate in Accenta 2011. Saudi exhibitors include Al Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group, Al-Abdullatif Industrial Investment Company, PetroRabigh, Saudi-Aramco, Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corporation (SPIMACO), SABIC, The Savola Group, The National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET), Al Watania Plastics, Etmar Dates, Zamil Chem Plast.
