EU told to review stance on trade ties with GCC |
|
Network this!
RIYADH: The Kingdom has called on European Union (EU) to reconsider its attitude toward the establishment of a free trade zone in order to reach an agreement.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said Wednesday the European Union continued to make unreasonable demands that had forced the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to suspend negotiations in order to preserve economic relations between both sides.
He made the observation at the 10th Saudi-Italian Joint Commission meeting held in Riyadh.
The meeting was co-chaired by Al-Assaf and Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini.
Addressing the session, Al-Assaf pointed out the Joint Committee had been playing an important role in bilateral trade relations.
He told Italian businessmen about projects executed by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in the railway, water desalination and power sectors, among others.
Al-Assaf indicated the growth indicators of the Saudi economy amounted to 4.2 percent in 2008. He also pointed out the total volume of financial flows of direct investments into the Kingdom in 2008 amounted to $38.2 billion, making the Kingdom one of the top five recipients of foreign investment in the world.
On the global economy, he stressed the Kingdom had been focusing its efforts on achieving stability in the world oil markets through continued investments in expanding refining capacity to maintain balanced and acceptable prices to producers as well as consumers.
Outlining the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and Italy, Frattini described his country as the major trade partner from Europe.
He also commended the efforts of the Kingdom in improving the economic climate in the region and expanding its area.
Following the meeting, Frattini discussed the outcome of the joint commission with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal on Wednesday.
Both were satisfied with efforts to promote bilateral relations.
They also discussed regional and international issues of common concern, particularly pushing ahead with the Middle East peace process as well as regional and international efforts in freeing the Gulf region and the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction.
By Mohammed Rasooldeen
© Arab News 2009
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Loading ...
from issuers in both public and private sectors. It is not an e-tendering service and is entirely FREE.
As an Issuer, you can benefit from posting an unlimited number of Tender
Notices for FREE and reaching out to an online community of bidders.
The service also offers you a tool to track the interest of bidders to your
tenders 'live' online.
| Tender Notice | Due Date |
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Dodsal Engineering and Construction | UAE | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Emirates Telecommunications Corporation | UAE | Telecommunications Services |
| Agility Public Warehousing Company | Kuwait | Transportation Services |
| Al Azizia Panda United Company | Saudi Arabia | General Retailers |
| Al Maktoum International Airport | UAE | Transportation Services |
| Emirates Airline | UAE | Transportation Services |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Qatar Foundation - Sidra Medical and Research Center | Qatar | Real Estate |
| SATORP- Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex - Conversion Unit and Sulphur Package (Part 2) | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| ADNOC/ConocoPhillips - Sour Gas Fields Development - Shah Field | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Abu Dhabi DOT - Abu Dhabi Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion - Offsites and Utilities Package | UAE | Oil and Gas |