Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qassabi, the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid bin Abdulziz Al-Faleh and Advisor at the Royal Court Dr. Muhammed Al-Jasser, took part in a Saudi-American Business Council meeting, which was held here today, within the visit of the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense to the United States of America.

The meeting discussed several topics and focused on: Improving investment environment and diversification of the national economy, in terms of growth in the sectors, local content, privatization and increasing participation of the private sector, as well as the Kingdom Vision 2030 and the related National Transforamtion Programme, in 2020.

During the meeting, Dr. Al-Qassabi highlighted the Kingdom in 2030, partnership opportunities between Saudi public and the private sectors and corporate America, pointing to that it is coming as a complementary to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and President Barack Obama vision on developing the strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America.

For his part, Dr. Mohammed Al-Jasser pointed to the importance of the Kingdom Vision 2030, explaining its solid economy, the unique geographical location linking the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, in the heart of the Arab and Muslim worlds, as well as its ability to invest both at home and abroad and diverse investment opportunities offered for the foreign investor.

He added that the economic diversification is crucial and will change the economy through the contribution of the private sector as its contribution to the GDP will rise from 40% to 65% by 2030, with the government's focus on the development of defense and internal security policy, foreign affairs, education and the basic infrastructure development, which means the privatization of the majority of the leading state-owned enterprises and other sectors and services, to open new markets in the Kingdom for local and foreign investors.

On the other hand, Eng. Khalid Al-Falih highlighted the importance of preserving the gains of the energy sector, further diversification of the economy and raise the proportion of income from non-oil sectors, including entertainment, defense, financial services, infrastructure, education, health care, defense, financial services, infrastructure, education and health care.

For equipment and services in the oil and gas sector, he said the local content will be increased from 35% to 70% over the next five years, in an initiative that provides great opportunities for American companies to invest in the Kingdom, as the latter will build new power plants to promote high-tech industries through education, research, development, innovation and business projects, along with its commitment to build a digital infrastructure and the digital economy, in a wide scale, to support e-government and advanced scale initiatives of industrial and commercial activities.

Meanwhile, the US Vice-President of the Saudi Arabian Business Council, David Callahan confirmed that American businessmen are looking to invest in the Kingdom, in accordance with the Vision 2030, especially the small and medium-sized companies.

Callahan confirmed US side interest in increasing the volume of investment in the Kingdom, at the level of the giant and small and medium-sized companies, in the framework of the ambitious vision of the Kingdom in 2030 and the National Transformation Program in 2020, noting that the details of these aspirations have increased American businessmen drive to fully engage in the Saudi market.

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