Saudi Arabia's commercial exchange with Oman and Indonesia has reached record rates. A recent trade agreement that resulted in establishing the Saudi–Omani Business Council gave commercial privileges to Saudi businessmen, which translated to significant increases in business between the two countries. Mustafa Sabri, secretary general of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, met Sunday with the Omani Assistant Consul General, Mahmoud Khadim Bin A'ashour, and the Indonesian Consul for economic affairs, Joko Raherdjo. Bin A'ashour said that Oman and Saudi Arabia are members of the GCC, which helped a lot in increasing cooperation on all levels, especially commercial exchange. “We are going to boost the volume of imports and exports with Saudi Arabia,” Bin A'ashour said. He added that trade between the two countries has reached SR2.37 billion in 2005. “We expect that number to double in the next two years,” he said. The Indonesian Consul for economic affairs said that his country's trade exchange with Saudi Arabia reached $3.23 billion in 2006. “Indonesia exports $524 million of goods to Saudi Arabia, while the Kingdom has exported some $2.71 billion of goods to Indonesia,” he said. He added that Saudi Arabia is the single biggest investing country in Indonesia, with investments of $3.02 billion. “Saudis are investing in various fields, primarily energy, gas, petrochemicals, hotels, restaurants and real estate,” said Raherdjo. Sabri said the meeting reflected Saudi Arabia's position on the Asian continent and the Islamic world as one of the most influential countries in the region. The delegations of the two countries called on Saudi businessmen to visit Oman and Indonesia to help take commercial exchange to higher levels. __
