Turkish-Saudi business and investment forum kicks off

The activities of the Turkish-Saudi Business Forum were launched, featuring the Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance and the Saudi Minister of Investment.
The forum came to start real steps to reach the goal of bilateral trade volume between the two countries.
Turkish Minister Noureddine Al-Nabati said during the forum that the volume of trade exchange between Turkey and Saudi Arabia rose to $4.3 billion during the first ten months.
He called on Saudi investors to take advantage of opportunities in the financial markets in his country, following the lead of international counterparts.
The “Turkey Business and Investment Roundtable” meeting held last June is considered the key step for Turkish-Saudi economic relations, according to the Saudi Deputy Minister of Investment, Badr Al-Badr.
On the other hand, analysts considered that political decisions taken by the two sides during the past months pave the way for the two countries to set up mutual economic projects.

• Soundbite ( Hamid Al Salmi – Saudi businessman):
  “The conference is fruitful and there is distinguished cooperation between the Turkish and Saudi authorities. There is an opportunity for investors in the private sector in Saudi Arabia to invest in Turkey, and we welcome any cooperation between the two countries.”
• Soundbite (Taha Odeh Oglu – Political Analyst)
  “Turkey entered a new phase with Saudi Arabia after the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince to Turkey. Strengthening these relations opens the way for distinguished economic projects between the two countries.”
• Soundbite (Nael Olbak: Member of the Foreign Economic Relations Council):
  “We are here at the Saudi-Turkish Investment Forum. The trade in the past three years has gone through a period of decline, but from this year we will continue to reach from 5 to 10 billion dollars, and then up to 30 billion dollars. Our goal is not only trade, but investment. Saudi Arabia investments in Turkey are about nearly 11 billion dollars in energy, health, food, agriculture and technology, especially the defense industries.