HELSINKI, FINLAND – Heading a high-level delegation to Finland, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Foreign Trade Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi stressed on the need to strengthen and diversify the bilateral trade between the two countries.
Al-Qasabi said that Saudi Arabia can benefit from Finland’s leadership in the areas of research and development, education and training, start-ups, innovation and others.
The delegation was in Helsinki to participate in a forum organized by “Business Finland” in cooperation with the Federation of Saudi Chambers.
Al-Qasabi said Thursday Saudi Arabia’s economy – since the launch in 2016 of the “Kingdom Vision 2030” in 2016 by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz witnessed a transformation that led to the opening of many new sectors and promising opportunities for the business sector.
He said that the Kingdom aims to transform into a global trade and logistics hub, taking advantage of its geographical location and its capabilities that are currently being developed in light of the national strategy for transport and logistics services.
Al-Qasabi said that there are many promising opportunities available in many fields, including: renewable energy generation, hydrogen use in industrial applications and transportation, as well as cooperation opportunities to develop and employ carbon capture technologies.
During the forum, which was attended by about 120 officials from the public and private sectors in the two countries, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Federation of Saudi Chambers and Business Finland.
The agreement was signed by Majed Al-Hokair, Chairman of the Saudi-Finnish Business Council, and Nina Kopola, CEO of Business Finland, in addition to signing a number of memoranda of understanding between a number of Saudi-Finnish companies.
Director of International Business Innovation, Karita Tesari da Costa spoke on the most prominent trends and practices adopted in specialized educational centers, innovation centers and business incubators in Finland.
Saudi Deputy Minister of Commerce and CEO of the National Competitiveness Center, Dr. Iman bint Habbas Al-Mutairi spoke on the most prominent legislative and procedural reforms implemented with the aim of enhancing the Kingdom’s competitiveness and promising opportunities for investors.
He spoke on the support provided by the authorities to overcome obstacles facing business owners.
The General Supervisor of the National Program for the Carbon Circular Economy at the Ministry of Energy Dr. Zaid Al-Gharib spoke about the Saudi Green Initiative, highlighting that the Kingdom advanced 10 places globally in the Green Future Index for 2022.
The Saudi-Finnish Forum discussed cooperation in transportation and logistics, education, fish farming and food industries, biotechnology and health, information technology, artificial and digital intelligence, energy and environmentally sustainable solutions, and electronic games industries.