Roberta Fedele Saudi GazetteJEDDAH – A Spanish delegation headed by Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Gonzalo de Benito, that is currently visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of a tour to strengthen and deepen political and economic ties with countries in the Gulf region, was welcomed Sunday at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) by JCCI Secretary General Adnan Mandourah. Mandourah highlighted the considerable number of official visits that are taking place lately between Saudi and Spanish officials, including last week's visit to Madrid by Defense Minister Prince Salman. He also stressed the JCCI's will to support the establishment of important economic ties and the need to further increase commercial visits and investment projects between the two countries. “The Saudi government is spending billions of dollars on mega projects in the infrastructure sector and requires the collaboration of international suppliers,” he said. On his side, Gonzalo called on Saudi businessmen to make use of the commercial opportunities in his country. The Vice Minister recalled the already significant presence of Spanish companies in Saudi Arabia and traced new, possible and interesting cooperation scenarios with Saudi businessmen. “The weakness of Spain's (current) economy was to be excessively reliant on the construction field that faced a period of collapse due to the international economic crisis. However, the country is now undergoing a program of austerity that includes fiscal consolidation and structural reforms. In addition, an injection of liquidity to our banking system from the European Union will take place in the next few days and will help increase our trade,” Gonzalo said. “Until the 1990s Spain was a small economy without external projection. Today, the country is the fifth strongest EU economy. Saudi and Spanish investors hold six major investment projects (at present), (which) include the construction of a high speed railway connecting the holy cities of Makkah and Madina and a $561 million petrochemical plant in Jubail,” he added. Spain and Saudi Arabia, said Gonzalo, have strong relations in the field of power, mining, gas, medical equipment, wood and chemical products. The bilateral commercial exchange between the two countries reached $3.5 billion and Saudi Arabia is the 12 exporting country to Spain. Gonzalo also envisaged new possible economic cooperation scenarios within Latin American countries where Spanish firms in the fields of infrastructure, water treatment, oil, gas, etc. are well rooted since 20 years. “The largest 35 Spanish companies are doing 60 percent of their business in Latin America. If Saudi Arabia is willing to project its economy toward this geographic area, Spanish companies are ready to offer their support,” Gonzalo further said. Mandourah enthusiastically welcomed Gonzalo's advices and concluded the meeting inviting him to bring Spanish delegates and speakers to the next Jeddah Economic Forum, an important international platform that can contribute to furtherance of bilateral relations. __
