Saudi Arabia Plans to Unify Strategy of Saudi-Foreign Business Councils

Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
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Saudi Arabia Plans to Unify Strategy of Saudi-Foreign Business Councils

Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)

Business leaders have welcomed Saudi efforts to implement fundamental changes to the regulations of joint business councils with the aim of boosting their role in the future.

The aspired changes seek to enable the councils to overcome the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and strengthen their capacity to hold successful commercial partnerships and achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Kamel Al-Munajjed, Chairman of the Saudi Indian Business Council, said: “The General Authority for Foreign Trade is working to develop the regulations of Saudi foreign business councils in order to keep abreast of developments after the coronavirus pandemic and to accelerate successful commercial partnerships to increase the private sector’s contribution to foreign trade.”

According to Al-Munajjed, one of the most important problems that the joint business councils faced over the past years was the lack of a unified strategy and the absence of unified standards for measuring performance.

He stressed that the development of regulations to overcome the aforementioned obstacles would give a great impetus to the work of the joint councils in contributing to the development of foreign trade and achieving many goals in Vision 2030.

For his part, Mohammed Al-Hammadi - a member of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and former head of a joint Saudi business council - underlined the importance of the planned move by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Authority for Foreign Trade regarding developing a work regulation for Saudi foreign business councils to keep pace with the post-pandemic period.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Hammadi expected that the new regulations would greatly contribute to the development of Saudi foreign relations on the economic, commercial and investment levels.



IMF Approves Third Review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 Bln Bailout

Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
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IMF Approves Third Review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 Bln Bailout

Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the third review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 billion bailout on Saturday but warned that the economy remains vulnerable.
In a statement, the global lender said it would release about $333 million, bringing total funding to around $1.3 billion, to the crisis-hit South Asian nation. It said signs of an economic recovery were emerging, Reuters reported.
In a note of caution, it said "the critical next steps are to complete the commercial debt restructuring, finalize bilateral agreements with official creditors along the lines of the accord with the Official Creditor Committee and implement the terms of the other agreements. This will help restore Sri Lanka's debt sustainability."
Cash-strapped Sri Lanka plunged into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades in 2022 with a severe dollar shortage sending inflation soaring to 70%, its currency to record lows and its economy contracting by 7.3% during the worst of the fallout and by 2.3% last year.
"Maintaining macroeconomic stability and restoring debt sustainability are key to securing Sri Lanka's prosperity and require persevering with responsible fiscal policy," the IMF said.
The IMF bailout secured in March last year helped stabilize economic conditions. The rupee has risen 11.3% in recent months and inflation disappeared, with prices falling 0.8% last month.
The island nation's economy is expected to grow 4.4% this year, the first increase in three years, according to the World Bank.
However, Sri Lanka still needs to complete a $12.5 billion debt restructuring with bondholders, which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake aims to finalize in December.
Sri Lanka will enter into individual agreements with bilateral creditors including Japan, China and India needed to complete a $10 billion debt restructuring, Dissanayake said.
He won the presidency in September, and his leftist coalition won a record 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in a general election last week.