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Top Saudi company to
invest in China's construction sector
 BY
K.K.JAFARKHAN
19 October 2004
JEDDAH - For the first time, a major Saudi company
will be investing in China's construction sector.
Al-Suwaiket Trading & Contracting Group of Companies,
ranked 14th among Saudi Arabia's top 100 companies,
has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a
Chinese firm for the construction of commercial
properties in China.
Though the deal, worth $50,000, is nowhere near the
multi-billion Saudi investments in the US and Europe,
it marks a new direction in looking east in trade and
investment.
At the state level, Sinopec Group, China's
state-controlled refinery, has already held talks with
Saudi Aramco about taking a stake in a $1.2 billion
refinery in the Chinese city of Qingdao.
According to Amr A. Al-Dabbagh, governor of the Saudi
Arabian Investment Authority (SAGIA), the Saudi
private sector has been investing at least SR18
billion riyals ($4.80 billion) annually abroad. "Saudi
Arabia has been a net exporter of capital for the last
30 years," he said.
On the details of the MoU, Mubarak Al Suwaiket,
president of the Al-Suwaiket group, said that they
would provide $50,000 to Xinjiang Construction
Engineering Co. for the construction of commercial
properties in China.
Xinjiang will be responsible for the management and
maintenance of buildings after construction.
He said the two organisations had signed a partnership
agreement early this year to construct high rise
residential buildings in Saudi Arabia, the AGCC states
and the Middle East to capitalise on the construction
boom that is expected to continue for the next few
years. The local construction market is expected to
hit SR64 billion by the end of this year, up from SR16
billion last year.
Al-Suwaiket said market experts anticipate the
construction boom to continue in the Kingdom, where
the demand for housing is expected to be about 160,000
units per year.
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