Business in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh

The objectives of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” are the following:

1. To analyse the Saudi Arabian Economy and Foreign Trade (Import, Export, FDI)
2. To know the business opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3. To explore the Saudi Arabian trade relations with the country of the student
4. To know the Saudi Arabian Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
5. To examine the profile of Saudi Arabian Businesspeople
6. To develop a business plan for the Saudi Arabian Market

Transport and Logistics in Saudi Arabia

1. Access to the Eurasian Corridors:
   1. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
   2. China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor
   3. Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran Transport Corridor (KTAI-ECO)
2. Nearest African Ports
   1. Port of Djibouti
   2. Port Said. Suez Canal
   3. Port Sudan
   4. Port of Dar es-Salaam

Saudi Arabian Preferential Access and Free Trade Agreements

1. Saudi Arabia and the Arab Economic Area
2. Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
   1. European Union-Gulf Cooperation Council Cooperation Agreement
   2. India-Arab States of the Gulf Agreement
   3. Australia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) FTA
   4. European Free Trade Association-Saudi Arabia
   5. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
3. Islamic Trade Preferential System (TPS-OIC)
4. Greater Arab Free-Trade Area (GAFTA)

Trade Facilitation Programs

1. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
   2. WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI)
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG)
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
2. World Customs Organisation (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
3. International Road Transport Union (IRU)
   1. TIR Convention
   2. Guidelines on Safe Load Securing for Road Transport
4. International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
   1. International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC)
   2. Convention Relating to Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention)
5. Customs Convention on Containers (CCC, UN)
6. International Bureau of Containers and Intermodal Transport (BIC)

Islamic Organisations

1. Arab League (LAS)
2. Summit of South American-Arab Countries
3. Asia-Middle East Dialogue
4. Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
5. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
6. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
   1. Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC)
   2. Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI)
   3. Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
   4. Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC)
7. Afro-Arab Cooperation
8. Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
9. Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisations (AGFUND)
10. Arab Trade Financing Programme (ATFP)
11. Arab Development Funds

Global Organisations

1. Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)
2. Colombo Plan
3. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN)
   3. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
4. World Bank (WB)
5. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
6. African Development Bank (AfDB)
7. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1. Saudi Arabia was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad
2. Two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Madinah are in Saudi Arabia
3. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the economic, religious, political, and financial centres of the MENA economies (Middle East and North Africa)
4. Saudi Arabia is a major player on the regional political scene
5. Capital of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh
6. Official language of Saudi Arabia: Arabic
7. Type of Government: Absolute Monarchy
8. Area of Saudi Arabia: 2,149,690 square kilometres
9. Population of Saudi Arabia: 30 million people
10. The Saudi Arabian Currency: Saudi Riyal
11. The headquarters of the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisations
12. Abolition of Slavery in Saudi Arabia: 1962
13. Borders of Saudi Arabia: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen
    1. Maritime borders (Gulf of Aqaba): Israel and Egypt

Religion in Saudi Arabia:

1. Sunni Islam is the main religion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2. Major Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) School is Hambali
3. 20% of the population is Shiite

Saudi Arabia belongs to the Arab Economic Area (Islamic Civilisation).

Saudi Arabian Economy.

1. Saudi Arabia represents 25% of the Gross Arab National Product
2. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East and 24th largest exporter in the World
3. The economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on the petrol sector
4. Saudi Arabia has 25% of the proven petroleum reserve in the World
5. The Saudi Arabian Petroleum Company (Saudi ARAMCO) is the largest petroleum producing company in the World
6. In the last years, the Saudi Government has taken measures to diversify the economy, despite the global rise in energy prices, the non-petroleum sector has been a decisive sector in the economic growth of Saudi Arabia
7. Saudi Arabia is the third economy in the World by Macroeconomics stability
8. The Saudi Riyal is one of the most steady currencies in the World
9. Saudi Arabia is the largest free economic market in the Middle East
10. The Saudi market has a high purchasing power in the region
11. The headquarters of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Islamic Development Bank are in Jeddah
12. Public sector plays a major function in industrial activity
13. Saudi Arabia has a robust gross domestic product growth in the last years