RIYADH — Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi headed Saudi Arabia's delegation, which included 36 officials from the public and private sectors, on a working visit to Singapore to discuss enhancing trade and economic partnership between the two countries. The working visit, which will last until the Sept. 27, aims to enhance bilateral trade in products and services, and raise the level of economic partnership between the two countries, in addition to participating in the Saudi-Singapore Business Forum. During the visit, Dr. Al-Qasabi met with Singapore's Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, and Singapore's Minister for Social and Family Development, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli in the presence of Dr. Iman Al-Mutairi, deputy minister of commerce and CEO of the National Competitiveness Center (NCC). Saudi Ambassador Abdullah Al-Madhi attended the meetings. The two sides have agreed to cooperate on the fields of providing students with the necessary skills for future industries, digital literacy, and entrepreneurship. This is in addition to discussing the main features of the Singaporean education system, exchanging experiences and training courses, cooperation between universities and schools, and expanding educational mission programs between the two countries, as well as the cooperation in the field of endowments. Dr. Al-Qasabi discussed with the heads and officials of the industrial and economic sector cooperation in the fields of economic stimulation, commercial solutions services provided to companies, the development of industrial zones and business parks, and the transformation to digitize manufacturing processes. The minister also discussed bilateral cooperation in the areas of the service economy, reviewing best practices and key programs to enhance competitiveness, as well as prospects for research cooperation between the National Competitiveness Center (NCC) and the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). The minister's visit includes meetings with ministers and officials, as well as visits to a number of specialized educational academies, business innovation centers, in addition to Tuas, the largest automated port in the world, to learn about the best experiences in various fields. The Saudi delegation is scheduled on Tuesday to participate in the Saudi-Singapore Business Forum, which is organized by the National Competitiveness Center in cooperation with the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the Singapore Business Federation. The forum will address the progress made in implementing Saudi Vision 2030 since its launch in 2016, and opportunities to enhance economic and trade partnership, and exchange experiences. This is in addition to discussing increased cooperation between the business sectors in Saudi Arabia and Singapore in a number of vital sectors, including the logistics sector, e-commerce, modern technologies, and others.
