Saudi Arabia to spend $100bn on 16 nuclear plants

JEDDAH. December 9. KAZINFORM Saudi Arabia will spend more than $100 billion to establish 16 nuclear energy plants in different parts of the country within the next few years, Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza told a Saudi-US business forum in Atlanta.

According to Arab News, he made this comment while talking about the Kingdom's efforts to develop solar and other renewable energy technologies to reduce dependence on oil and gas.

"We have allocated $3 billion to produce solar energy panels in Jubail and Yanbu," he added.

Alireza said Saudi imports from the US are expected to cross $95 billion or 23 percent of the total US exports to Arab countries by 2012.

"This amount is expected to double by 2015," the minister said while highlighting the significance of Saudi Arabia as a big market in the Middle East.

"This goes in line with President Barack Obama's initiative for increasing US exports and creating 2 million new jobs for the Americans," he added.

Alireza emphasized the strong, historic relations between Saudi Arabia and the US and hoped the Atlanta forum would contribute to strengthening the Saudi-US partnership. The US received 95 percent of the total Saudi exports to North America valued at SR124.68 billion in 2010, a statistical report issued by the Ministry of Economy and Planning said.

"Saudi Arabia and the US should complement one another and integrate their strong points to build a value-added relationship," the minister said.

"There are good prospects to expand these relations covering all economic sectors with the support of the two leaderships," he added.

Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah led an impressive 250-member Saudi delegation to the forum, including government officials and business leaders.

The forum, which concluded on Wednesday, discussed new investment opportunities worth $385 billion in the Kingdom in the key sectors of education, energy, electricity and water, transport and logistics, petrochemicals and infrastructure.

In his keynote address, Alireza said Saudi-US relations are based on mutual values and respect.

He emphasized the need to develop an institutional cooperation to take bilateral ties to new heights.

He underscored Saudi Arabia's position as the largest economy in the Middle East and a key member of the G-20.

Details also at http://arabnews.com/