Saudi Arabia - Visas and Trade - Franklin Lavin - International Trade Administration

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Visas and Trade on the Mind of Visiting US Official

Editor's Note

The question of U.S. visa processing has not been far from the top of the list of issues to be resolved for those who have supported strong Saudi-US relations in recent years. Recall the SUSRIS interview with Saudi Majlis member and leading businessman Usamah al-Kurdi after the Arab-US Policymakers Conference in October. He called the visa issue "the single most important issue because of its long-term impact on the relationship."

Recall the SUSRIS interview with Majlis member Mohammed H. Al-Qunaibet at the US-Arab Economic Forum in Houston last summer. He was very candid in his criticism of the student visa process, "Our kids cannot come to the United States to study without being delayed for six months." The visa issue, he noted, also had a negative impact on trade and investment, "If you are a businessman and you know that to get a visa will take you five months, you will avoid this country."

By November the news was getting better on the visa question. Writing in Arab News, Maha Akeel reported that the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was expediting Saudi visa applications in response to a wave of scholarships for Saudi students to attend US universities and opening of additional visa processing slots for the general public.

In an exclusive report on Monday Professor Jean Francois Seznec told SUSRIS about advances he saw in resolving the backlog of US visas for Saudis, especially students. "That is a very positive development," he noted. "In the long run it will make a big difference in how the two countries view each other."

Today we are pleased to share more details on the question of visa processing, this time from US trade official Franklin Lavin who is visiting the Kingdom. He also discussed prospects for US-Saudi trade as reported by Javid Hassan writing for Arab News.

Over 11,000 US Visas Issued to Saudi Students Last Year
Javid Hassan, Arab News

RIYADH, 15 March 2007 � The number of student visas for Saudis pursuing higher studies in the US shot up to over 11,000 last year, nearly three times more than the pre-9/11 figure of 4,359 in 2001, according to US Undersecretary for International Trade Franklin L. Lavin. The number of visas issued for all categories last year stood at 25,000, down from the pre-9/11 figure of over 60,000, he said.

Franklin Lavin, Under Secretary, US Dept of Commerce, International Trade Administration Lavin also announced at a press conference here yesterday that the US has proposed to the Saudi government that the duration of business visas be extended for up to three years. This would make it easier for the business community from both sides to have multiple-entry facilities instead of visas with three- to six-month duration.

�The Saudi side feels the same way as this will reduce the nuisance factor,� he said at the press conference attended by Nasir Abbasi, commercial counselor, and Charles J. Skuba, director of public affairs, and Melissa G. Ford, press attache.

The undersecretary, who arrived here on Monday, met with Minister of Commerce and Industry Hashim Yamani and other senior officials. He said his visit was mainly for consultations with Saudis and to try to address some concerns facing American firms here.

�It was also to reach out to the Saudi side and the American business community in order to promote bilateral trade,� he said.

Referring to the increase in the issuance of student visas, he said: �Someone at the embassy is doing things right, as the turnaround time has improved.�

As for businessmen, the number was also going up, but not to the pre-9/11 level.

Among the issues facing the US firms are those concerning the distribution of American products in the retail market, intellectual property rights and financial services.

�So there are some impediments out there and neither side is complacent about them,� he said. �But we want the US firms to take the Saudi market seriously. Similarly, we would want the Saudi side to make it easier for our companies to do business here.�

Lavin said that the US would like business relations with the Kingdom and other Gulf states not to be influenced by political factors.

�We welcome investments by both sides. But we want business relations to be determined by the underlying business logic of the project,� he said. �We don�t want it to be a political decision.�

Asked to explain the contradiction in the US stand whereby Washington�s proposal for a free trade zone in Central America was seen as politically motivated, while the US wants the Gulf states not to inject politics into the US initiative for a free trade zone in the GCC, Franklin said the US has adopted a dual-track approach in this regard.

�One path was the WTO, or GATT at that time in the early 1980s. That was a multilateral agreement,� he said. �However, with the 150-member WTO, it was a long path requiring the signing of many bilateral agreements. So we moved forward according to different situations.�

In reply to a question from Arab News, the undersecretary said he did not explore the possibility of signing a free trade agreement with the Kingdom.

�But we did talk about the bilateral investment treaty, which is viewed from our perspective as a building block to FTA. We also talked about enhancing trade, since liberalization of trade and investment as well as dismantling of barriers is essential before we can move forward toward an FTA. In this context, the Kingdom�s membership of the WTO would help us a great deal.�

Saudi exports to the US rose by 16.5 percent last year to reach around $32 billion, dominated by oil, while US exports to the Kingdom stood at $7.8 billion, 14.6 percent over the previous year. The balance of trade tilted heavily in the Kingdom�s favor. He attributed the substantial increase to the surge in oil prices.

On the question of US participation in the Kingdom�s mining projects, Lavin said the operations of American mining companies are coal-based and also confined to the local market.

�Since our speciality is coal, that won�t translate into bauxite and phosphate mining, which is what the Kingdom is interested in,� he added.

Source: Arab News - http://www.arabnews.com
Reprinted with permission

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