The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry is slated to hold discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Jeddah Wednesday to boost trade and economic relations between the Kingdom and Germany. The talks will be held at a working meeting organized by the council, in collaboration with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). The meeting will include a number of Saudi businessmen from various economic sectors. Saleh Abdullah Kamel, chairman of the council, and chairman of the board of directors of the JCCI, said the program for the meeting with the German Chancellor will include holding a round table dialogue that will bring together top businessmen and senior Saudi and German officials. The agenda will include economic relations between the two countries. Also, a Saudi-German Economic Forum will be held, bringing together Saudi and German businessmen to discuss cooperation in infrastructure development, renewable energy and services. Kamel said he hoped the meeting with Merkel will have positive economic spin-offs. It is also hoped that there will be cooperation on training, small and medium industries and how to achieve a balance in trade between the two countries. He said Saudi-German relations are good at the moment. Kamel said that the Kingdom is Germany's biggest trading partner in the Middle East. He said the two countries are linked by a number of agreements in various technical, industrial and technological areas. There are also agreements to support and protect investments, avoid dual taxation and mutual tax exemption on aviation. He pointed out that there are a number of mechanisms for boosting economic cooperation between the two countries, including the Joint Economic and Financial Committee that was established to develop cooperation in the economic, commercial and technical fields, to set up joint ventures and support trade exchange. This is in addition to the Saudi-German Businessmen Council Committee that was established in 1985 to support the role of the private sector in encouraging economic cooperation between the two sides. The volume of trade between the two countries was SR37.6 billion in 2008, making Germany the Kingdom's third largest trading partner.
