Speech by HRH Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf to the International Strategic Forum on Trade and Investment Opportunities for Companies in Saudi Arabia in Manchester,
27 January 2006
Your Highness, Excellences, Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, Businessmen
I am delighted to welcome you to this International Strategic Forum on Trade and Investment Opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
This is my first visit to Manchester and I am impressed. Manchester is the United Kingdom�s second city. A vibrant multi cultural centre of industry and the arts.
I have had the privilege of meeting some outstanding Mancunians who have developed strong links with the Kingdom. Yesterday I visited a small school in North Reddish which was the first school to link with a Saudi Arabian school.
I also visited a small factory in Failsworth, which � would you believe it � exports headscarves to Saudi Arabia!
They were both good examples of the adventurous ground breaking spirit that I am sure defines the people of the north. I was also honoured to spend time and have lunch with your Lord Mayor Mohammed Afzal Khan and to visit some of the Muslim leaders in your city.
I felt � we all felt � that we were among real friends � people who want to get to know us better and to understand us and people who have found friends and business in the Kingdom. So it is not surprising that we want to do more business with you.
Ladies and gentlemen
You are here today to find out about trade and investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia and you will not be disappointed.
I will start by painting the broad picture.
You will find out the details of the tremendous opportunities available in the Kingdom - and how you and your companies can get involved � from the large delegation of highly prestigious businessmen � and women � working with the Committee on International Trade of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry � who are with us here today. And who are expert in their various specialist fields.
We are also honoured that His Excellency Sir Sherard Cowper Coles, the British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is here with us. I count him as a friend as well as a colleague
His commitment to this conference is a clear demonstration of his belief in the strong relationship between our two countries and his belief in the wide number of opportunities now available in the Kingdom for British business.
Ladies and gentlemen
One of the key reasons that the Committee on International Trade has brought this delegation here is because we want to do business with you � with the people of the United Kingdom and specifically with the people of Manchester and the surrounding region.
Ladies and gentlemen
Lets get down to business.
Business between our two countries is good and the Saudi Arabian economy is thriving � indeed booming. The past six years has seen a dramatic change in the Kingdom with exports rising dramatically between 1998 and 2004.
In 1998 our exports were valued at just 145 billion Saudi Riyals.
By 2004, they had risen to 472 billion Saudi Riyals - that is not double, that is more than triple their value just six years earlier. And things are getting better still.
That dramatic rise is also reflected � to some degree � in a rise in imports. In 1996 imports were at their lowest at 103 billion Saudi Riyals. By 2004 that had risen by more than 50 per cent to 157 billion Saudi Riyals.
Ladies and gentlemen
Whichever way you look at those figures, you can see that business is booming and Saudi Arabia is once more ready to embark on a new wave of development.
Now is the time to invest in Saudi Arabia. The investment opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are huge.
Because of that booming economy, the government, under the direction of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah has announced development projects for the Kingdom in the region of US$624 billion.
This is � by any estimate � an enormous sum of money. We need your help to spend that money - on the right projects. To help us to achieve something very close to our hearts - the next important stage in the development of our Kingdom.
But you will want to know where this US$624 billion is going to be spent. There is something for everyone � and I will leave the details to the experts you will be hearing from later.
But in brief, this important development will be across all sectors in the Kingdom - from schools and hospitals, to roads and desalination plants. We want to expand and develop our industries and our businesses.
We are looking to the future, of our country, of our children
Ladies and gentlemen
We believe this is an invitation not to be missed. These projects are going to be developed over the next 15 years and we want Britain to be a part of that. You are invited not only to carry out ventures on a joint basis but also on an individual basis.
New laws are now in place to allow regional and global investors to set up their own projects without a Saudi Arabian partner. There is more good news.
In the last two years Saudi Arabia�s stock market has increased almost three fold in share price. In terms of trade volume, the stock market now ranks 11th in the world.
There are now nearly two million people investing in our stock market. Volumes are averaging a staggering $1.7 billion a day. It is added proof that our economy is thriving.
And to make business easier � not just for you and for us � but for all regional and global investors our regulations have been streamlined. Our invitation to British business is to be part of something very positive.
Ladies and gentleman
We need you and we want you to help us achieve that goal. The relationship between Britain and Saudi Arabia is strong.
We count you amongst our friends. It is a friendship not just based on trade but also on a joint strategic commitment, and relationship based on our history and culture.
It is a friendship that we value over many others. It is a friendship we want to see developed further in these good years for the Kingdom.
We want British business to benefit from our good fortune and to share in our determination to take our country forward.
Ladies and gentlemen
Despite this positive news � and this open invitation � I know that there will be those amongst you who will have a niggling fear lurking at the back of your mind: security.
The evil of terrorism.
This is an evil which is against us, as much as it is against you � and against every civilised person living in this precious world of ours. But as your Prime Minister Tony Blair has said - and I quote � �Our countries have both suffered from and are determined to defeat the scourge of terrorism.� Our determination in Saudi Arabia to rid our country of the terrorist threat has been to some degree rewarded.
Joint operations in the past few months have resulted in the capture of almost all terrorists on our first most wanted list and the effective sealing of our borders to stop those wishing to perpetrate these evil crimes coming into our country.
We are determined to defeat these terrorists who are attempting to drive a wedge of fear and misunderstanding between us.
Security in the Kingdom is being maintained and will continue to be maintained at a high level to ensure the safety of our own people as well as the thousands of expatriates who come to live and work in our country.
Among those foreign residents are 25,000 British citizens. They have looked this terrorist threat in the eye and decided to stay on.
As I mentioned earlier � a very special expatriate is amongst us today:
Sir Sherard Cowper Coles, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia. He can tell you first hand what it is like for British businesses in the Kingdom
I am sure that Sir Sherard will reassure you about the actions being taken to defeat this evil as well as highlighting the opportunities available in the Kingdom for you today. I would like to conclude with my sincerest thanks again for your generosity and friendship. I now know why they say the north is the heart of England.
Good friends.
Thank you
HRH Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf
Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland
