Saudi Arabia seeks to boost trade with Tunisia, address shipping challenges: Minister

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bander Alkhorayef said Saudi Arabia aims to continue boosting trade exchange with Tunisia over the next three to five years, after it reached about SAR 1.12 billion, marking a growth of more than 20%.

In an interview with Argaam, the minister added that ambitions surpass current levels, given the availability of greater opportunities to expand trade, highlighting that the relevant authorities are currently analyzing untapped opportunities to raise these figures.

According to Alkhorayef, work is underway to study challenges hindering trade exchange growth, including logistics challenges and costs, coupled with regulatory hurdles. To address these, several measures are being implemented, including the mutual recognition of technical specifications, besides incentivizing certain shipping lines.

Further, he identified several key sectors poised for investment growth based on the competitive advantages of both nations. He pointed to Tunisia’s distinguished expertise in food and food-processing industries, particularly those related to dates, olive oil, and fish, in addition to the pharmaceutical sector.

This is on top of opportunities for joint ventures in the tourism sector as Saudi Arabia opens its tourism sector.

Alkhorayef also pointed out that the automotive industry is witnessing strong growth in the Kingdom, aligning with Tunisia’s capabilities in this field, in addition to the aircraft components sector. He noted that these sectors were among the topics discussed with the Saudi-Tunisian Business Council.

He stressed the importance of business councils analyzing Saudi Arabia’s industrial, energy, and mining strategies to pinpoint joint investment opportunities for the coming phase.