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HRH
Lolowah Al-Faisal
2005 Saudi Trade Mission
Houston, Texas
May 13, 2005
Good
afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It’s a great pleasure to be here
with you today and to talk to you about the business and investment
opportunities in the Kingdom.
 The
meetings
that HRH Prince Abdullah had with President Bush
and his Cabinet during his recent visit to the United States have
not only energized the mutual relations between our two nations but
also reassured the world that Saudi Arabia will secure the adequate
supply of energy to the world market.
The
scale and speed of transformation in the country itself undoubtedly
will play an important role in the dynamics of change and
development in the world economy.
As
the private sector increasingly regards the U.S. market as a
comprehensive commercial entity, the Saudi government is developing
policies and institutions, which reflect these deeper economic ties.
This is especially true today not only for the energy sector but all
sectors in the Saudi economy.
The
historic ties
between us and the state of Texas
for many years will reinforce our shared trade initiatives and
create unique opportunities for doing business together. And
so as we celebrate this trade mission forum in Houston, let me pay
tribute to this significant bilateral trade between the great state
of Texas and Saudi Arabia. We have both grown and flourished
together. This will certainly be emblematic of the larger
partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The
Saudi government has taken action on economic reform. In order
to move the structure to a completely new level of efficiency, the
Government created a series of economic institutions:
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The
ministerial petroleum committee, which ensures our long-term
goals of oil price stability are acted upon.
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The
High Commission on Tourism, which is opening the country to
foreign visitors.
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The
General Investment Authority, which is a one-stop-shop for
foreign investors.
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The
Supreme Economic Council, which has taken the bit firmly between
its teeth and continues to fast-track transparency, equality and
diversification. For instance, the Kingdom’s new
foreign investment code gives foreign investors the same
incentives as Saudis. Foreigners can own real
estate. Foreign companies can qualify for soft government
loans and own 100% of projects. There are more attractive
tax rates on foreign business profits.
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This
goes hand in hand with Saudi
admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO),
which would be a watershed in market liberalization. In
gaining admission, an entire basket of trade incentives would
ensue including lower tariffs, negation of tax differentials and
increased market access to the financial and communication
sectors.
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Moreover,
the Supreme Economic Council is focusing our energies on
privatization in order to encourage new investment.
Sectors now open to privatization include telecommunications,
civil aviation, desalination, highway management, railways, and
many more. For instance: The high-level Health Service Council
is being formed to prepare a strategy for health care
privatization. It is anticipated that some state-run
hospitals will be sold or rented to the private sector in order
to improve services and efficiency.
 As
a result, Saudi Arabia has maintained a positive trade balance,
curtailed its budget deficits and kept inflation at bay. The
gross domestic product (GDP) for 2004 was U.S. $248.5 billion in
current prices. The GDP real growth
was at 5.3%. These policies will help a great deal to meet the
economic boom that is expected with the increase in oil production
within the next 10 years.
The
tremendous annual increase of female graduates that outnumbered male
graduates for the past 10 years, as well as the opening of new
positions for women in the market pushed for more expansion of the
role of the  woman in the society in general and in business in
particular. It is clear, however, that the expansion of the
population, which caused more economic pressures, made more women
choose to establish their own businesses instead of staying at home.
In fact, the recent influences such as satellites and internet
services that come from different parts of the world increased
awareness and made people want to improve their standard of living
by a second income in the family. This played a major role in
the demand for more job opportunities for females. Based on
this, the Council of Ministers – the highest government body in
the Kingdom – recently issued a nine-point plan urging the
creation of more job opportunities for women. They lifted a
ban that kept women from jobs in most fields.  The Cabinet has
instructed the ministries and government agencies to create jobs for
women, and asked the Chambers of Commerce and Industry to form a
committee for women to help train and secure jobs for them in the
private sector. It also allocated land for the establishment
of industrial projects to employ women. These new policies
encouraged women to invest in the market which in turn helped boost
the Saudi economy.
Today
the cooperation between the Committee
for the Development of International Trade of the Council of Saudi
Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
and the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Energy and the National
Association of Manufacturers, will mark another turning point in
U.S.-Saudi relations. This trade mission will offer an
opportunity to enhance, strengthen and continue to build further
upon mutual commercial strengths. More than $623 billion in
market opportunities are projected for the Saudi economy through the
year 2020. It exists in different sectors starting from
electricity, water, telecommunications, infrastructure,
petrochemicals, natural gas, agriculture, information technologies,
to tourism and education. Saudi businessmen have already
provided you with detailed information on export market growth
potential and business opportunities for each of these sectors.
These
are some of the most attractive features of the Saudi economy which
is expected to witness solid and continuous growth in the coming
years auguring well for a promising and bright future for Saudi and
American businesses.
Finally,
I would like to give a special thanks to our prime sponsors: Riyadh
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the U.S.
Departments of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National
Association of Manufacturers, Saudi Aramco, ChevronTexaco, and
ExxonMobil which made this mission possible. My sincere thanks
also goes to all honorable guests for being with us in this
wonderful occasion.
Source:
AboutSaudiArabia.net
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