Japanese investments in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Chamber of Industry and Commerce will hold the 10th annual meeting of the Saudi-Japanese Businessmen on November 22-23 in Dammam. The meeting is held yearly, rotating between in Saudi Arabia and Japan.

The meeting will discuss the development and privatization plans in Saudi Arabia and changing the laws for the foreign capital investments, in addition to the investment opportunities available in Saudi Arabia. The meeting will tackle the issues of transferring technology and trade exchange between the two countries, together with the role of banks and liberating the international trade.

The issue of Japanese investment in Saudi Arabia through joint projects tops the meeting's priorities. The Saudi side found that the number of Japanese investment projects is less than expected in comparison with the volume of the Japanese foreign investment and the volume of the trade exchange between the two countries. The Japanese side found that the lower-than-expected Japanese investment in Saudi Arabia is caused by the lack of information available to Japanese investors about the investment environment in Saudi Arabia.

Japan comes second after the USA on the list of countries investing in Saudi Arabia. There are 29 joint projects, whose total capital is $3.27 billion; the Japanese share in this capital is 47.2%.