Hannover Messe: 30 member KSA team boosts German ties

(MENAFN- Arab News) A 30-member Saudi trade delegation visited the world's largest industrial fair Hannover Messe in Germany recently to seek more knowledge about setting up manufacturing industries in the Kingdom.
The fair included a business forum which featured the National Industrial Development Program's project to find outstanding business opportunities.
The German-Saudi Liaison Office for Economic Affairs headed by Andreas Hergenroether German trade delegate in Saudi Arabia Bahrain and Yemen organized the visit.
'Due to the high-ranking participation of the Kingdom Hannover Messe 2015 is set to be a vital cornerstone of Saudi-German business relations' Hergenroether said.
'It's a step to strengthen the ties between Saudi Arabia and Germany and facilitate technology and knowledge transfer.'
He said the Saudi government intends to increase its manufacturing share of its gross domestic product to 20 percent by 2020.
'To achieve industrial diversification Saudi Arabia has identified four industrial sectors as a starting point' he said.
These include automotive minerals and metals processing plastics and packaging and solar energy which are crucial for the Saudi economy he said.
Abdullah Hazani vice president for the automotive cluster said the Kingdom plans to participate in the global automotive trade market which generates SR170 billion worth of imports a year in the Middle East North Africa region.
This would be achieved by developing a fully competitive local automotive industry that covers the entire value chain starting with vehicle assembly operations over the direct or indirect suppliers of automotive parts components modules and sub-assemblies.
The minerals and metals cluster aims to establish a sustainable high value and strategic processing industry.
The plastics and packaging cluster aims to develop an export-oriented sector while the solar energy cluster plans to establish local manufacturing activities.
The delegation included representatives from the National Cluster Development Program Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and King Abdullah Economic City.