JEDDAH — A delegation of senior business executives from 20 leading US renewable energy companies concluded their four-day business development mission to Riyadh on Tuesday (Nov. 13), organized by the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council (USSABC). Lionel C. Johnson, Vice President, Turkey, Middle East and North Africa Affairs for the US Chamber of Commerce; and Edward Burton, President and Managing Director of the USSABC, led the delegation. SunPower Corporation and Exelon Generation Company, two of the mission delegates, are serving as chairs for the nuclear and solar company segments of the mission. The Nuclear Energy Institute is a supporting partner of the program. “This visit is of strategic importance for the US Chamber of Commerce as it marks our first mission to the Saudi market. We are particularly pleased to be able introduce our US member companies to important emerging industries in the Kingdom that hold such great opportunity,” said Johnson. “We expect that the mission will help position US businesses to support the evolution and deployment of new technologies in Saudi Arabia and further spur the development of the Saudi economy.” Edward Burton, President and Managing Director of the USSABC, added: “The Business Council is pleased to collaborate with the US Chamber of Commerce to give US companies an opportunity to showcase their advanced technologies and manufacturing capabilities in the renewable energy industry, a priority sector for the Saudi government. There is a strong complementarity between the products and services of US companies and the need of the Saudi market. “ Saudi Arabia announced in May 2012 that it would invest $109 billion in solar projects to produce 41 gigawatts of electricity by 2032 to meet one third of its power demand. The Kingdom is also working on formulating a nuclear development plan and application strategies and announced that it would build 16 nuclear reactors by 2030. The mission delegates met with Saudi government agencies and institutions involved in power generation, conventional and renewable energy, and water. The delegates also conferred with the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and held individual appointments with potential Saudi joint venture, licensing, and research and development partners, agents, OEMs, and EPC contractors. Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Gulf, accounting for 25 percent of the region's GDP. Driven by an ambitious national development plan that is dedicating hundreds of billions of dollars to projects from infrastructure to information technology, the Kingdom has demonstrated a rising demand for US products, technologies and services across industry sectors. Total bilateral trade between the US and Saudi Arabia in the first six months of 2012 reached $39 billion, the largest amount in the history of the two countries. Saudi Arabia exported $30.2 billion worth of products to the US, representing a nearly 43 percent increase from the first half of 2011. US companies sold $8.8 billion worth of goods to the Saudi market in the same period. In 2011, US-Saudi trade reached an annualized total $61.2 billion, a 42.5 percent increase over the value of bilateral trade in 2010. — SG
