King Salman meets with members of Saudi-Russian Business Council

King Salman met with members of the Saudi-Russian Business Council at his residence in the Russian capital Moscow on Thursday evening.

Dr. Majed Bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi, Saudi Minister of Commerce and Investment, spoke before the Saudi-Russian joint committee stating that the historic visit of King Salman to Russia will have a significant impact on the Saudi-Russian relations.

He pointed out that the kingdom works in the light of Saudi Vision 2030 with the Russian side to take bilateral relations towards expanding their markets and investments in various fields including, energy, technology, military industry, infrastructure, oil, petrochemicals, gas, minerals and agriculture.

Al-Kassabi stressed that this constructive cooperation will contribute to creating job opportunities, enhancing local productions to increase exports and attract quality investments to Saudi Arabia.

He pointed out that the Saudi Business Forum was held on Thursday morning under the title of "Investment to build a close partnership". More than 200 businessmen and businesswomen from both countries participated in the forum on the sidelines of King Salman’s visit.

The Saudi minister stressed that all parties will follow up after the visit on the 20 signed agreements between the government and private sectors, which will mark the launch of the Saudi-Russian committee’s functions taking place after two weeks in Riyadh.

General Director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, delivered a speech in which he thanked King Salman for his continued support sustaining relations and cooperation between Saudi and Russian businessmen according to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

He reviewed the areas of joint investments in all fields, stressing his country's keenness to develop trade and investment cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

King Salman's speech

In his speech, King Salman said: "Our visit aims to assert that we are moving forward in the search for the common opportunities to develop relations between our two countries in all fields, and I’m pleased with the agreements we have reached with the Russian leadership regarding growing bilateral relations to a broader and more comprehensive prospects, which will establish a stronger partnership. The directives shard with His Highness the Crown Prince in his three visits to Russia have had a clear impact on strengthening the partnership between the two sides as confirmed by the signed agreements and memorandums of understanding.”

King Salman added: "The Kingdom has adopted a broad development plan under Saudi Vision 2030 in order to promote the national economy and free it from dependence on oil as the sole source for national economy. The Kingdom's vision seeks development in that direction for the coming years, including collaborations with Russia. We look forward to the participation of leading Russian companies to effectively encourage the economic opportunities that will be provided by this vision to strengthen our partnership in all fields for the benefit of the two countries, and the private sector, which is significant in the development and progress of nations. The Kingdom provides full support to this sector and has provided the right environment for the development of its business and progress. "

"As a major producer of oil, Saudi Arabia has been keen to stabilize the world oil market to balance the interests of consumers and producers, and open up prospects for investment in various energy sectors. Our partnership with Russia has been central to re-balancing the world oil markets, which we hope will continue.

"I thank you all for your efforts to affirm relations between the two countries in a way that serves the common interests of both our nations and people, I wish you all continuous achievements and success," King Salman concluded his speech.