H.E. the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Greece and Bulgaria, Mr. Saleh Al-Ghamdi, met on Monday, June 13th, 2011, with a large number of Bulgarian businessmen and investors representing more than 50 companies, in the presence of the President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov, and the President of the Saudi-Bulgarian Business Council Mr. Nikolay Filipov.
The Ambassador delivered a speech which included an historical overview of the Kingdom and its geographic and strategic location. He then spoke about the economic boom currently seen in the Kingdom, and the mega projects in various fields that have been launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He also highlighted the size of the state funds allocated for these projects, which amounted to 130 billion dollars, and concerned the sectors affecting the very interests of Saudi people in their everyday lives, such as education, health, development of housing units and provision of employment opportunities.
Ambassador Al-Ghamdi also mentioned the important role Saudi Arabia is playing in the international scene through its membership to the Group of Twenty (G20), and its efforts to stabilize the world’s economy. He then drew the attention to the Kingdom’s efforts to ensure the stabilization of the oil market, while serving the interests of the producers and the consumers alike, by not exceeding the reasonable price limits in order to prevent any harm done to the global economy.
The Ambassador briefly reviewed the Kingdom’s efforts to attract foreign investments and noted the advantages of the Saudi environment and climate for investing, through the enactment of laws and the establishment of bodies entrusted with the follow up of the relevant developments, and therefore offering numerous incentives and guarantees to foreign investors. Ambassador Al-Ghamdi also referred to the Custodian’s allocation of four hundred (400) billion dollars which are to be invested during the next 5 years in several fields with the petroleum industry being at the forefront.
After the end of his speech, the Ambassador responded to numerous questions posed by the attendees, and also presented them with lists of websites related to the Saudi economy. Apart from the representatives of several Bulgarian companies, delegates from the Bulgarian media were also present at the meeting.
