09/11/2010
Italian Ambassador: Trade with the Kingdom shows an encouraging signs
During his meeting in Asharqia Chamber, the Italian Ambassador Mr.Valentino Cemontini emphasized the strong Italian-Saudi mutual relations which is improving between the two countries, especially after the latest visits between officials in both countries, noting that during the past two years, the Italian PrimeMinister visited the kingdom twice, while King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz had a special visit to Italy also.
Valentino explained during the meeting which took place on Monday at Asharqia Chamber 8th November, 2010 in the presence of the board member Faisal Saleh Al-Quraishi, and the Acting Secretary-General Abdulrahman bin Abdullah Al Wabel, along with number of businessmen in which the two governments signed a number of mutual agreements that require cooperation in the areas of health, education , science and various economic sectors during the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Italy on November 2007.
He also pointed out that the Italian trade delegation who visited Riyadh is considered to be the largest trade mission in Italy visiting the Kingdom as it include the Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini and Minister of Economic Development Paulo AlRoma along with representatives of 150 companies, stressing that Italian companies is currently looking for cooperation in infrastructure development in the Eastern region .
Furthermore,Italian Ambassador focused on the Economic Forum recently held in Riyadh, which discussed cooperation in the areas of education and training between the two countries and expressed his country's readiness to receive the Saudi students to study in its universities and training institutions.
For his part, Board Member of the Chamber Faisal Bin Saleh Al-Quraishi said that the investment opportunities in oil,gas and petrochemical projects in the Eastern region, noting that Saudi Aramco is preparing to invest more than 450 billion riyals in the oil and petrochemical projects during the next six years.
He also urged the Italian companies to consider the cooperation with their Saudi counterparts to take advantage of current investment opportunities, pointing out that investment in the Kingdom has become quite profitable after the economic reforms and new incentives for foreign investors, which include the reduction of taxes on foreign companies from 45 percent to 20 percent, and equality of between local and foreign companies and credit facilities by the Industrial Development Fund.
