The president of the Saudi Arabia-Portugal business council told Lusa this Sunday, November 23, that the Saudi economy is expanding strongly, pointing out opportunities for Portuguese companies and the Saudi interest in investing in sectors such as tourism, industry, agriculture and energy.
“Saudi businesspeople are very interested and want to have a clear path to investing in Portugal”, highlighted Alwalid Albaltan in Riyadh, where a two-day visit by the Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, begins this Sunday, which aims to reinforce bilateral economic relations.
The Saudi Arabia-Portugal Business Council and its Portuguese counterpart began working around a year ago to promote investments, organizing business missions and information sessions about business in both countries.
“We created this base and now we can see the result”, commented Alwalid Albaltan, exemplifying the recent intensification of high-level visits by Portuguese authorities to the country – as was the case, last month, with the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, and, now, the Minister of Economy.
“This shows that this base is building something great for the future. It is hard work and will take some time, but everything is coming together in this direction”, considered the businessman.
The Saudi official recalled that Portugal – together with Spain and Morocco – will organize the world football championship in 2030 and, four years later, Saudi Arabia will take on this task.
“This is the time to launch tourism”, he highlighted.
In the same sense, the president of the Portugal-Saudi Arabia Business Council, Abílio Alagôa da Silva, highlighted to Lusa the business opportunities for Portuguese companies in this Middle Eastern country.
“The next 10 years will be of great prosperity” in Saudi Arabia, defended the Portuguese businessman, who pointed out the “transformative” capacity of the so-called ‘Vision 2030’, a strategic plan launched in 2016 to diversify the country’s economy beyond oil.
This plan includes major projects such as Expo 2030; Qiddiya, a future entertainment and sports hub, which will include the future Al Nassr stadium and training center; King Salman Park, which is expected to become the largest urban park in the world, in the Saudi capital; the futuristic city NEOM or luxury tourism projects on the Red Sea coast.
“There is a wave now and we have to take advantage of it”, maintained the Portuguese businessman.
Alagôa da Silva also stated that the Saudis have “a great affinity” with the Portuguese.
Portugal also has an informal “ambassador” in this country: footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, currently playing for the Saudi team Al Nassr.
“He did a lot to bring the two countries closer together. We love him and we already see him as a Saudi,” said the Saudi businessman.
Riyadh today hosts a business and investment forum, with the presence of the Portuguese minister and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim, in which around 50 Portuguese companies and more than 200 Saudi companies participate.
As part of this meeting, 15 memorandums of understanding will be signed in different sectors of the economy.
Minister Castro Almeida’s visit includes bilateral meetings with members of the Saudi Government and the meeting of the seventh joint commission between Portugal and Saudi Arabia.