MUSIAD Chairman Mahmut Asmali stated that it is envisaged to implement a $3.3 trillion project within the scope of Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” project and said, “Our interlocutors tell us that we prefer Turkish companies as their most important partners in construction. Because the Turkish contracting sector carries out successful projects in many countries.”
The 27th International Business Forum (IBF), which started with the MUSIAD Turkish Export Products Fair held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, at the beginning of last week, continues today with bilateral business meetings to be held in Medina.
MUSIAD Chairman Asmali said that the International Business Forum is one of the organizations that they attach the most importance to as MUSIAD.
Stating that the platform, which was based on the idea of establishing a “global business network” among Muslim business people, brought together 42 business associations from 25 countries, Asmali noted that they came to the IBF held in Saudi Arabia with around 300 business people from Turkiye.
Reminding that this year’s 27th IBF started in Riyadh on March 3, Asmali said, “After Riyadh, we held programs in Jeddah in cooperation with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. Then we moved on to Mecca. The summit will end with bilateral business meetings and panels to be held in Medina today and tomorrow. Thus, within the scope of the 27th IBF, we held the Economic Forum Summit, B2B meetings, meetings with fairs and chambers of commerce.”
“They are planning huge investments within the scope of Vision 2030 projects”
Mahmut Asmali pointed out that the commercial relations between Turkiye and Saudi Arabia have increased significantly, especially in the last two years, and emphasized that the bilateral trade volume between the two countries will reach $6.8 billion as of 2023, the highest figure in the last 8 years.
Stating that they attach great importance to Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision, Asmali continued as follows:
“They are planning huge investments within the scope of Vision 2030 projects. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia will host the World EXPO and the World Cup in 2034. Therefore, there will be huge investments here in almost all sectors, especially construction, for 10 years. They are talking about $3.3 trillion. Approximately $1.6 trillion of this will be directed to the construction sector, infrastructure and superstructure. Therefore, they say, ‘If we bring all the construction companies here together, it is not possible, we cannot complete these projects. We definitely need construction companies from many parts of the world. In this sense, we prefer Turkish companies as our most important partners.’ Because the Turkish contracting sector carries out very successful works in many countries of the world.”
“Turkiye is one step ahead of other countries”
MUSIAD Chairman Mahmut Asmali stated that Saudi Arabia provides serious production support to companies that move their headquarters to Riyadh and said, “There are great investment opportunities not only in construction, but also in many areas from tourism to health, from energy to digital transformation.”
Saying that Saudi Arabia has changed its projection in terms of resource management and that tourism has a great potential for this reason, Asmali said:
“Saudi Arabia is our friend, our brother, the place where Mecca and Medina are located. As Turkish businessmen, why shouldn’t we do business here? We have advantages in many aspects. The fact that the relationship between the heads of state of the two countries has reached a very good level opens the way for us businessmen. These opportunities do not always come your way. There is truly a historical period of opportunity here. Therefore, we are on the eve of days of great breakthroughs.”
Reminding that the strategic goals of the two countries are mutual trade of $10 billion in the medium term and $30 billion in the long term, Asmali said that Turkiye is one step ahead of other countries in Saudi Arabia with its production capacity, trained manpower, strategic location and cultural ties.
Stating that the entrepreneurial activities and investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia are quite diverse and very interesting for potential investors, Asmali added that they also want to evaluate the opportunities and maximize mutual trade.
Source: Trthaber / Prepared by Irem Yildiz