LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi held a number of meetings with British ministers and leaders of major companies in the UK aimed at boosting trade and economic partnership between the two countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
During his visit, Al-Qasabi met with Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps, Minister of Trade and Business Kimi Badinosh, Minister of Investment Dominic Johnson, Minister of State for Middle East and North African Affairs Lord Tariq Ahmed, and Minister of State at the Department of Education Nick Gibb.
The meetings were attended by Saudi Ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar and Deputy Minister of Commerce and CEO of the National Competitiveness Center Dr. Iman bint Habbas Al-Mutairi.
Al-Qasabi also held meetings with undersecretary of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology Viscount Camrose, adviser to the British Prime Minister for business and investment Frank Petitgas, the Prime Minister’s special representative for education, Sir Steve Smith, and CEO of the British Accreditation Authority Matt Gantley.
The meetings tackled the strategies and programs of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to expand business opportunities and investments between the two countries, and encouraging British companies to expand their businesses in Saudi Arabia.
They also discussed ways to encourage and finance emerging companies to enter promising fields of research and innovation and reviewed British expertise in developing entrepreneurship.
Al-Qasabi also held meetings with leaders of the British business sector, including CEO of Rolls-Royce Tufan Erginbilgic, and participated in a dialogue session with members of the Asian House, a think-tank concerned with promoting trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The Saudi delegation had a scheduled visit to Dulwich College where it was briefed on the British practices and expertise in the field of education.
The minister’s visit to UK coincided with the third meeting of the Economic and Social Committee of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council, which convened in the capital, London.
The forum, which consisted of 45 officials from 22 government, non-profit and private agencies, was organized by the National Competitiveness Center, the Joint Saudi-British Business Council, and the Federation of Saudi Chambers.
The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund, the Mohammed bin Salman “Misk” Foundation, Roshan Real Estate Group, the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the joint Saudi-British Business Council all took part in the event.
Saudi commerce minister concludes visit to UK to enhance economic partnership
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Saudi commerce minister concludes visit to UK to enhance economic partnership
Outdoor festival brings new energy to Ithra
- Inaugural Food Festival offers workshops and diverse cuisine with a relaxed vibe
DHAHRAN: The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, launched its inaugural outdoor Food Festival on Monday, turning part of its grounds into a lively culinary space in view of the iconic building.
Music, laughter and the smell of cooking fill the area, guiding visitors toward the festival site.
The festival program includes four specialized cooking workshops — taco, pizza, steak and sushi — each running for three days and powered by Filmmaster. While registration is required to participate, visitors can watch the chefs prepare dishes in the open-air kitchen.
Beyond the workshops, visitors can explore 10 food stations offering a range of cuisines, including Saudi, Indian, Egyptian, Mexican, Japanese and Lebanese.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The Food Festival program includes four specialized cooking workshops — taco, pizza, steak and sushi — each running for three days and powered by Filmmaster.
• While registration is required to participate, visitors can watch the chefs prepare dishes in the open-air kitchen
One such booth is Whoa Tea & Desserts, which was bubbling with excitement on opening night. Its founder, Liu Yang, who also goes by the name of Edwin, told Arab News why his business chose to participate.
“I found the Saudi market is very good and they have so many young people here, so me and my two friends we decided to resign and we started a business here targeting the young people,” he told Arab News.
The Chinese entrepreneur has now lived in Saudi Arabia for more than four years, spending the first half of that time working for a Chinese company before deciding to branch out.
The company brought their own brand of Chinese milk tea, fruity and matcha drinks as well as an assortment of snacks, and even board games, to their shop.
“Now we, in two years, have more than 10 branches in Riyadh and we decided to come to Alkhobar, so soon we will have three shops here which will open in the Eastern Province; one at the end of January and two in February,” he added.
Since they are opening locally next month, the festival was the perfect way to introduce their products for customers to sample.
Ekin, who moved to Saudi Arabia last year from the US, told Arab News why she chose to bring her family, which included two young children under 10, to the festival.
“We are members at Ithra, we love Ithra. So that is why we trusted that this event was going to be a success,” she told Arab News.
“This is the perfect weather — I love the outdoors eating option. It’s also spacious; there are picnic tables. I think the variety makes it even better because you don’t have to wait in the line for a long time to just grab food,” she said.
The festival is set to end on Jan. 3.
