Developments During Tenure As Ambassador
In fewer than five years, the Saudi-U.S. relationship has grown substantially in the fields of security, economic relations and cultural exchange. Saudi students enrolled at colleges and universities are at an all-time high, reaching more than 45,000 students as of June 2011, up from about 8,000 in December 2006. Improved visa policies by both countries have also led to record numbers of visitors, with each country issuing nearly 70,000 visas in 2010 (NCUSAR Policymakers Conference). As a result of an agreement reached in May 2008, the two countries agreed to issue five-year multiple-entry visas to citizens of both countries.
The U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, James B. Smith stated, “Offering new types of visas to foreign scientists and experts, as well as for student exchanges in scientific fields, opens doors for the people of Saudi Arabia to learn from other countries and for the world to learn from and about Saudi Arabia.”
Investments between the two countries are also at record numbers. The United States is the number one source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Saudi Arabia with $8.1 billion in 2009, a 56.5 percent increase from 2008. In 2010, Alcoa and Saudi Ma’aden signed a contract worth approximately $15 billion to build the world’s largest aluminum refinery and smelter complex in the Kingdom. In 2011, Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical Company approved the formation of a joint venture to build and operate a world-scale, fully integrated chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City, valued at $20 billion. In 2008, SABIC and ExxonMobil began conducting a detailed study for a new Elastomers project at their petrochemical joint ventures, Kemya and Yanpet. Once completed, the project will have a total investment of approximately $5 billion. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also a large investor in the U.S. economy.
Read more about this topic: Adel Al-Jubeir
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