The US-Saudi Arabian Business Council and the CIT (Committee for International Trade) of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CS) held the Saudi-US Business Opportunities Forum last April 28th and 29th, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois.
The forum focused on the increasing role of Saudi Arabia in the world’s financial circles, as well as the need to strengthen the business relationship between the United States and Saudi, as reported by the organizers.
The trade between the nations two years ago reached $68 billion. Back in 1970, it only crossed $160 million.
Saudi and US government representatives, particularly those in the industry and business sectors, were invited to be guest speakers at the event.
Some of these guests were:
• James Smith (United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia)
• Steven Chu (Energy Secretary)
• Timothy Geithner (Treasury Secretary)
• Gary Locke (US Commerce Secretary)
• Abdulrahman Al-Saeed (Royal Court adviser)
• Adel Al-Jubeir (Saudi Ambassador to the US)
• Gov. Abdulrahman Al-Tuwaijri (Capital Market Authority)
• Gov. Amr Al-Dabbagh (Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority)
• Gov. Muhammad Al-Jasser (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency)
• Abdullah Zainal Alireza (Commerce and Industry Minister)
• Ibrahim Al-Assaf (Finance Minister)
Last May 2009, the CIT also partnered with NAF (the New America Foundation) in forming a discussion that addressed the condition of and prospects for the association between Saudi and the US.