More than 300 Saudi and German company and economic representatives attended the Saudi-German Business Forum at King Faisal Hall of the Intercontinental Hotel in Riyadh Tuesday. Once again, continuous interest in promoting the bilateral business has been shown by the audience. Representing the economies of both countries, the participating entrepreneurs, in four panels, discussed further opportunities for cooperation with topics on energy and petrochemical industry, infrastructure and transport, SME promotion and education as well as healthcare. The forum was jointly opened by Sheikh Khaled Juffali, Co-Chairman of the Saudi-German Business Forum and his German counterpart Dr. Olaf Berlien, Member of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG and Chairman of the North Africa Middle East Initiative of German Business. Both highlighted the importance of good cooperation and transfer of technology and know-how between both countries. Andreas Hergenr?ther, delegate of the German Industry & Commerce for Saudi Arabia and Yemen (AHK Saudi Arabia) co-moderated the forum. "Today, Saudi Arabia is Germany's most important trading partner in the MENA region. In the first quarter of 2012, the German exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 30 percent and reached 2 billion euros, while the Saudi exports rose by 160 percent up to 338 million euros in the same time. I want to stress that Germany's economy stands for fair business, the active transfer of know-how as well as for high quality products. These are the main reasons for the extraordinary success of German exports worldwide," Hergenr?ther said. The next steps for more intense Saudi-German business relations have been done at the forum: The National Health Committee of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the initiative "Health - Made in Germany" extended their business relationship and engaged in joint cooperation in healthcare with the signing of a memorandum of understanding signed in the presence of Dr. Ibrahim Al Assaf, Saudi Minister of Finance, and Dr. Philipp R?sler, German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology. "Health - Made in Germany" is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology with the objective to support German export-oriented small and middle-sized companies in the healthcare sector. The initiative bundles key information and contact details related to German healthcare products and services and publishes it on the Internet. Representative of the new initiative in the Kingdom is the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (AHK Saudi Arabia) which is officially charged by the German government to foster and enhance German-Saudi Arabian business ties, representing no less than 3.5 million German companies. Saudi Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf, who co-chaired the 18th Saudi-German Joint Commission, said the Kingdom's financial and monetary policies have contributed in providing suitable financial climate to counter the global financial crisis. He said the gross domestic product in 2011 exceeded €430 billion, with a growth rate of 28 percent at the current prices and a rate of 7.1 percent at fixed prices. The private sector contributed about 48.8 percent in GDP in 2011. Moreover, he said the volume of trade between the Kingdom and Germany reached €7.5 billion in 2011, with Saudi exports at €300 million while imports reached €7.2 billion.
