Saudi Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid Al-Falih chairs the Saudi-Senegalese Joint Committee and meets with President of the Republic of Senegal.
Dakar: Saudi Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih has met with President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal, in Dakar, on the sidelines of the 3rd session of Saudi-Senegalese Joint Committee meetings, which was also attended by a Saudi public and private delegation..
During the meeting, they reviewed ways and opportunities for developing and strengthening relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Senegal, and supporting the Joint Committee and its efforts to achieve the goals and aspirations of the leaderships of the two countries and their peoples.
The Minister of Investment congratulated the President on the distinguished achievements and development of Senegal at all levels, including assuming the presidency of the African Union during the period 2022-2023, and its efforts to attract foreign investments through establishment of 3 free economic zones, and its engagement in the energy industry through discovery of oil fields in the Saint-Louis region in northern Senegal and gas fields in Dakar.
Eng. Al-Falih valued the President's attendance for the signing of a number of memorandums of understanding between the two sides and the loan agreement for the first part of the Dakar-Saint-Louis coastal road project. The Saudi company, ACWAPower, also signed two MoUs, the first with the National Electricity Company of Senegal (SENELEC) in the field of establishing a power plant, while the second is with the National Water Company of Senegal (SONES) to build a desalination plant.
During the visit, the Minister of Investment chaired the Saudi side of the Saudi-Senegalese Joint Committee meetings, while Senegal's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad Aïssata Tall Sall chaired the Senegalese side. HE also met with the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation of the Republic of Senegal, Olimata Sarr.
During his speech at the Saudi-Senegalese Joint Committee, His Excellency the Minister of Investment emphasized the importance of strengthening joint efforts, pushing relations to new and promising horizons, strengthening the economic partnership between the two countries and transferring it to a
broader scope, and continuing to work to enable the private sector partnership, encourage mutual investments, improve trade exchange, and strive to overcome obstacles.
Eng. Al Falih said: The two leaderships share consensus visions dating back to more than 60 years, as we also aspire that the trade and investment relations will further enhance to keep pace with the aspirations and economic and developmental capabilities of the two countries. Al Falih also stressed the importance of strengthening and supporting cooperation and closer economic and trade relations between the Kingdom and Senegal in a variety of fields, as well as the desire to benefit from the two countries' existing bilateral and regional frameworks and experiences.
His Excellency explained the importance of strengthening cooperation between the private sector to increase the volume of trade and investment exchange and benefit from the two countries' capabilities and expertise to establish industrial, agricultural, and service projects, preserve the environment, and activate the role of businessmen in the two countries in employing the available opportunities and capabilities, as well as the importance of exploiting the two countries' strategic location to develop trade exchange and joint investment projects by implementing all of the items signed in the minutes of the committee meetings to ensure the development of cooperation in the political, security, and economic fields.
On the sidelines of the meeting, an MoU to encourage direct investment between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Senegal, and another MoU between the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the National Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Senegal to establish a joint business council were signed.
During the round-table meeting which comprises more than 120 private sector leaders from the two countries, the Minister of Investment said: We are Senegal’s partners in development and growth and today’s meeting is another step towards transforming this partnership into concrete and constructive efforts.
The Minister’s visit comes within the framework of strengthening and developing economic and investment relations, discussing investment opportunities and ways of cooperation in several sectors to enhance cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Senegal.
