US president Donald Trump started his first international tour by visiting Saudi Arabia, a step many considered to be a sign for the strong business relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States, despite all the current troubles in the region. This visit is a continuation to Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington a few weeks ago, which discussed many regional and international issues, and ways to develop the American – Saudi relations in the future.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubair said during a press conference in Saudi embassy in Washington that, this this visit reflects US admiration of the Saudi ruling that always tries to strengthen the peace and security in the area. He confirmed that, US administration is full aware of the Kingdom role in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, eliminating Daesh and terrorism, countering Iran, and boosting investments between the two countries.
The United States is currently the Kingdom's second largest trading partner, with the largest share of direct foreign investment in the kingdom. The roots of this mutual business relation go back to discovering oil in the Kingdom by “Standard Oil Company of California” in 1933.
King Abdulaziz Al Saud, founder of Saudi Arabia laid the foundations of this relation during his historical meeting with US president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. The continuation of this relation and the repeated visits had their role in increasing the trade, business and investments between the two countries, including King Salman’s visit in September 4, 2015, during which the king issued his orders to study all business and investment systems in order to facilitate the international companies’ work and provide opportunities to invest in the Saudi market.
The number of American-Saudi projects reached 609 companies including 155 industrial companies, 454 non-industrial ones, while the investments in these companies reached 73615 million riyals, with 32136 million belong to the Saudi part, 39099 million to the US part and the rest is for other partners.
Technical cooperation is one of the important areas of cooperation with the United States, and in the light of Technical Cooperation agreement signed in 1975 between the two countries, 38 programs were agreed on, including providing experts and technicians and training Saudi cadres. All the agreed programs are funded by the Kingdom, and this agreement also included establishing a Saudi-American council for trade and investment, with representatives of both sides. This council aims to improve the business relations between the two countries, and it is considered a mean to help businessmen and to remove all obstacles that hinder the trade and investment in Saudi Arabia and the United States.