$10 Bn Investment Deals Signed on Day 1 of Arab-China Business Conference

Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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$10 Bn Investment Deals Signed on Day 1 of Arab-China Business Conference

Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The 10th Arab-China Business Conference witnessed the signing of investment agreements worth more than $10 billion, including 30 deals in various sectors.

Held under the theme of "Collaborating for Prosperity," the conference will bring together more than 3,000 government officials and business leaders from China and several Arab nations to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, and investment.

The conference is jointly organized with the Union of Arab Chambers, the League of Arab States, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

On the sidelines of the conference, several agreements were concluded between the private and public sectors, including government-to-business deals.

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed a $5.6 billion agreement with the Chinese company Human Horizons, which specializes in developing

autonomous driving technologies and manufacturing of electric cars under the HiPhi brand to establish a joint venture for automotive research, development, manufacturing, and sales.

- Rail wagons

The Ministry of Investment also signed a $266 million agreement with Hepopi Technology Co., Ltd., an Android software developer in Hong Kong, to develop tourism applications.

With the facilitation of the Ministry of Investment, a $250 million deal was concluded between the

Saudi Railways Company (SAPTCO) and Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer, CRRC, inked a $250 million deal to manufacture rail wagons and wheels in Saudi Arabia.

- Iron factory

Also among the agreements is a $150 million deal between the Ministries of Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIM), and Chinese industrial manufacturer Sunda to manufacture caustic soda, chlorine, and its derivatives, chlorinated paraffin, calcium chloride, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and conversion products in the Kingdom.

Also, on the sidelines of the event, a $533 million deal between the AMR al-Uwlaa Company and Hong Kong-based Zhonghuan International Group to establish a factory to reduce iron ore and manufacture iron pellets for smelting plants in Saudi Arabia.

- Copper mining

Saudi Arabia's ASK Group and the China National Geological & Mining Corporation signed a $500 million cooperation agreement for developing, financing, constructing, and operating an Arabian Shield copper mining project.

A $266 million framework agreement was signed between Mabani Al- Safwah Ltd, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co., Ltd., and Top International Engineering Corporation Arabia Ltd. for advanced building construction in the Kingdom.

- Thousands of participants

The conference's extensive agenda attracted thousands of participants, including panel discussions, workshops, special meetings, and side events that addressed selected vital topics, such as social and environmental responsibility, governance, and enhancing the supply chain's resilience.

Over 3,000 decision-makers, senior government officials, investors, business owners, and specialists joined the conference for the first-day number of participants on the first day.

- Oil and gas

Participants of the conference's sidelines reiterated the importance of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China, benefiting from each other's strengths to achieve common goals and drive innovation.

The topics include supply chains for the oil and gas sectors, innovation and research partnerships, challenges and solutions for global commercial supply chains, mining, and food processing.

- Tourism sector

Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmed al-Khateeb asserted the responsibility to expand the Kingdom's contribution to the global travel and tourism market, noting that Saudi Arabia is investing more than $800 billion in the sector over the next ten years.

At the conference, Khateeb encouraged Chinese tourists to visit Saudi Arabia and called on investors to seize unprecedented opportunities in the Kingdom.

He stated that since the launch of the government's initiatives, 49 countries had been allowed to obtain e-visa and that many Arab countries are working diligently to increase their contributions to the travel and tourism sector.

Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris, founder of Orascom Development, stressed that cooperation between Saudi and Chinese entities is the first step that can combine the power of knowledge in the Saudi market with the centrality of Beijing.



Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Japan are close to unveiling a higher partnership council that will be headed by the countries’ leaderships in line with efforts to build a partnership that bolsters the technical transformation and joint research in clean energy, communications and other areas, revealed Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two countries will soon open a new chapter in their sophisticated strategic partnership.

The new council will be chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to push forward the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030, he added.

The council will elevate cooperation between the countries and pave the way for broader dialogue and consultations in various fields to bolster political, defense, economic, cultural and sports cooperation, he explained.

The two parties will work on critical technological partnerships that will focus on assessing and developing technologies to benefit from them, Binzagr said. They will also focus on the economy these technologies can create and in turn, the new jobs they will generate.

These jobs can be inside Saudi Arabia or abroad and provide employers with the opportunity to develop the sectors they are specialized in, he added.

Binzagr said Saudi Arabia and Japan will mark 70s years of relations in 2025, coinciding with the launch of Expo 2025 in Osaka in which the Kingdom will have a major presence.

Relations have been based on energy security and trade exchange with Japan’s need for oil. Now, according to Saudi Vision 2030, they can be based on renewable energy and the post-oil phase, remarked the ambassador.

Several opportunities are available in both countries in the cultural, sports and technical fields, he noted.

Both sides agree that improving clean energy and a sustainable environment cannot take place at the expense of a strong economy or quality of life, but through partnership between their countries to influence the global economy, he explained.

"For the next phase, we are keen on consolidating the concept of sustainable partnerships between the two countries in various fields so that this partnership can last for generations,” Binzagr stressed.

“I believe these old partnerships will last for decades and centuries to come,” he remarked.

Moreover, he noted that the oil sector was the cornerstone of the partnership and it will now shift to petrochemicals and the development of the petrochemical industry.