A 50-member Saudi trade mission concluded its visit to five US states this week, after the coast-to-coast tour promoted $623 billion in US investment opportunities through 2020 in the electrical, water, telecommunications, gas and oil industries. The Saudi officials, who began their trip in New York on May 8, held their final business forum in San Francisco on Wednesday. Omar Buhlaiwa, the secretary-general for the Saudi Committee for the Development of International Trade (CIT) of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh, said new investments in Saudi Arabia could create at least 500,000 jobs annually. The United States is the Kingdom's largest trading partner. Despite setbacks from 9/11 terrorism attacks, bilateral trade in 2004 was at $26 billion, and there are currently over 360 joint US-Saudi projects in the Kingdom. "The response was great, and the results were good. This is going to be the beginning of many more such trips," said Buhlaiwa, who spoke to Arab News via phone from San Francisco yesterday. The delegation held meetings in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco. Although "each city had its own charisma," Buhlaiwa said the cities were strategically chosen. "NYC was selected because of its financial and banking sections, Atlanta because it is the commercial capital of the United States. Houston is, needless to say, the base for gas and oil. Chicago was a combination of three sections: industry, finance and commerce. And San Francisco was chosen for its IT industry." --More 1118 Local Time 0818 GMT
