Saudi Arabia has become the United Kingdom's largest trading partner in the Middle East, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister, said here Wednesday. Trade between the two countries has doubled in the last few years from its volume at the start of this decade, he said. By 2006, non-oil goods made up approximately 60 percent of Saudi Arabia's total exports to the UK, taking the lead over petroleum which had accounted for approximately 75 percent of exports to the UK in 1984. In his speech at the opening of the Two Kingdoms' Dialogue, Prince Saud said he considers the UK as a major investment partner of Saudi Arabia. “There are more than 150 Saudi-British joint projects with a total value exceeding SR55 billion,” he said, noting that the broad participation of British businessmen in the forum “promises that this progress will continue in the future.”
