Kingdom, Iraq to boost trade exchange
Arab News 14 May 1989


Riyadh—The fifth session of the Saudi-Iraq Joint commission, which concluded its two-day deliberations here today, decided on a package of measures to beef up bilateral trade which registered a sharp increase on both sides, Deputy Minister of Commerce Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Zamil told newsman after the meeting.

He said both sides noted with satisfaction the steady growth in the volume of trade thanks to the tariff exemption for a hundred products from both countries and "reduction in the number of non-tariff obstacles." As a result, Saudi exports to Iraq soared from SR 93.6 million in 1988 to SR 229.2 million in the first nine months of last year. Imports from Iraq during the same period jumped from SR 84 million to SR 106 million.

Lauding the growth in the Saudi-Iraqi trade relations. Turki Faisal Al Rasheed, president of Golden Grass, Inc. , said Saudi Arabia which has invested billions of Saudi Riyals in its agricultural development program, has acquired a rich expertise in farm management which would be highly useful to the Arab World with similar climatic and soil conditions. He said Saudi farmers could make a distinctive contribution to Iraqi agriculture which has remained underdeveloped as a result of subsidized food coming from abroad.