The Saudi-US Roundtable was held in Riyadh on January 20, together with the ninth meeting of the Saudi-US Trade and Investment Association, hosted by the General Authority of Foreign Trade.
The Deputy Governor of International Relations at GAFT, Abdulaziz Al-Sakran, and the Secretary General of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, Waleed Alorainan, attended the meeting.
The President and the CEO of the Saudi-US Business Council, Charles Hallab, and government agency representatives also participated in it, along with 83 companies of the private sector. The meeting examined opportunities to enhance economic relations between the US and Saudi Arabia.
It also looked into trade and investment cooperation opportunities in different sectors, which are essential to the formation of trade relations and the growth of bilateral trade volume, reaching about $33 billion in 2024.
Al-Sakran pointed out that the roundtable meeting could be considered in the context of the keen interest of the authority in increasing the role of the private sector in shaping trade relations by allowing it to reach foreign markets and eliminating all the external barriers that the department is exposed to.
He observed that trade relations between the Kingdom and the US have been characterized by high economic activity, which has led to a trade volume of over $500 billion in the last 10 years.
Notably, the GAFT also strives to build bilateral trade relations through regulating business councils and coordination councils. Moreover, it allows the non-oil exports of Saudi Arabia to reach foreign markets, and it assists in overcoming the numerous problems that they encounter.
