American Business Opportunity Forum opens Wednesday in Chicago with the Kingdom's representatives presenting a diverse selection of investment opportunities worth approximately SR1 trillion. Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Ali Al-Naimi, the Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, will be in attendance at the two-day event, organized by the Saudi chambers of commerce and the Saudi-American Business Council, along with a number of other notable figures from the US and the Kingdom's business communities. The forum, which will see the signing of five main agreements in addition to sub-agreements, will focus on small to intermediate-scale sectors, technology transfer, and the exchange of job opportunities. Omar Bahalwa of the International Trade Committee at the Saudi Chambers Council said the first day of the gathering would look at the stability of the Saudi economy, infrastructure opportunities, education, industry, and financial aspects, while the second would hold workshops reflecting commercial investment opportunities in the Kingdom. Discussions will center on energy, petrochemicals, electricity, water, infrastructure, knowledge, financial markets, trade and investment, and agriculture. “The Kingdom will present to Americans at the forum investments in a wide range of fields, worth around a trillion riyals,” Bahalwa said. Abdulrahman Al-Juraisi, vice chairman of the Saudi Chambers Council, said the US was “one of the Kingdom's most important trade partners”. “The business sectors in both countries have a significant role in boosting economic relations,” Al-Juraisi said. Trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and the US stood at SR193.3 billion in 2008, and direct US exports to the Kingdom are projected to rise to SR63 billion in 2010.
