Saudi Arabia Signs Coordination Agreement to Boost Exports, Foreign Trade

SEDA and GAFT sign the strategic coordination agreement on Tuesday (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat).
SEDA and GAFT sign the strategic coordination agreement on Tuesday (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Saudi Arabia Signs Coordination Agreement to Boost Exports, Foreign Trade

SEDA and GAFT sign the strategic coordination agreement on Tuesday (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat).
SEDA and GAFT sign the strategic coordination agreement on Tuesday (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat).

The Saudi Export Development Authority (SEDA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi General Authority for Foreign Trade (GAFT), with the aim of coordinating cooperation and enhancing communication between the two parties at the strategic and executive levels, and in support of achieving the strategic objectives of the Made in Saudi program.

Signed by the Secretary-General of SEDA, Faisal Al-Bedah, and GAFT Governor, Abdul Rahman bin Ahmed Al-Harbi, the MoU aims to provide multiple aspects of cooperation between the two bodies, in support of the Made in Saudi Arabia program, to achieve diversity in foreign trade, enhance the Kingdom’s commercial gains in international organizations, in addition to enabling access to the target markets for non-oil exports.

The Made in Saudi program seeks to increase domestic consumption and market share of local goods and services, support Saudi non-oil exports in priority export markets, and contribute to enhancing the attractiveness of the Saudi industrial sector for local and foreign investment.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Saudi Export-Import Bank, Eng. Saad Alkhalb, held a joint open meeting on Tuesday with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jeddah Chamber, Mohammed Yousuf Naghi, and a number of businessmen in the Makkah region.

The meeting focused on introducing products, services, financing and credit opportunities dedicated to developing the export of Saudi non-oil products and strengthening its presence in global markets.

The meeting comes after the bank approved financing requests worth 8.95 billion riyals (USD 2.3 billion) for Saudi products and services that were exported to more than 50 countries around the world.

Approvals for financing requests covered vital sectors such as plastics, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and other products, such as paper, rubber, food products, as well as construction and agricultural materials.



Saudi, Australian FMs Discuss Bilateral Ties in Phone Call

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi, Australian FMs Discuss Bilateral Ties in Phone Call

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah discussed in a phone call on Wednesday with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, the bilateral relations between the two countries and the ways to promote them mainly at the economic level.

The ministers have also discussed the regional developments, mainly the situation in the Gaza Strip.