- Gulf states expel Syrian ambassadors
Gulf Arab states decided to expel Syrian ambassadors from their countries... - Iraqi police to assume responsibility for local security in July
Iraqi army forces will withdraw from all cities and the capital on July 1s... - Police arrest four suspected al-Qaeda members in Diwaniya
Four suspected members of al-Qaeda in Iraq were arrested in a security ope... - Al-Qaeda's 'second-in-command' in Ninawa arrested
Muflih Marzouq al-Khaylani, al-Qaeda's second-in-command in Ninawa, was ar... - Election will provide solution to political crisis: Yemeni vice...
The presidential election scheduled for February 21st will provide a solut... - Iraqi police discover car bomb workshop in Kirkuk
Iraqi police in Kirkuk province found a workshop for making car bombs, imp... - Jordanian airline suspends flights to European and Gulf cities
Royal Jordanian Airlines announced Tuesday (February 7th) that it will sus...
U.S. Treasury Secretary visits Saudi Arabia
 U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (L) speaks to members of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on July 14 in Jeddah. (Omar Salem/AFP/Getty Images) |
RIYADH — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner launched his first official visit to the Middle East on July 14 with an initial stop in Saudi Arabia before travelling to the UAE. Geithner is hoping to secure a continued stream of investment in the United States from the oil-rich Arabian Gulf region.
Geithner addressed a group of wealthy Saudi businessmen, among them Chairman of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce Mohammed Al-Fadl, on the current status of the global economy and investment outlook. He urged investors in the Gulf region not to lose faith in the U.S. economy and praised Saudi efforts to stimulate growth in the global economy.
In his address to the Chamber, Geithner said, “I think the world has yet to fully appreciate the scale of ambition and investment that we are seeing in the kingdom and the Gulf region, which will lay the foundation for future growth.”
Al-Fadl welcomed the U.S. Treasury Secretary and praised the significant advances in Saudi-U.S. relations in the recent past that have been enhanced by direct contact between U.S. President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah.
Saudi Arabia is home to the largest economy in the Arab world. As the world’s leading oil exporter, it is the effective driving force in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It also owns vast foreign currency reserves valued at approximately US$400 billion and reinvests vast sums from its oil revenues in U.S Treasury bonds. In addition, Saudi and UAE sovereign wealth funds have billions of dollars invested in U.S. banks and assets.
Geithner told the Jeddah gathering that Saudi Arabia was America’s principal trading partner in the Middle East and that trade between the two states increased 20 percent over the last two years, a trend he hoped would continue.
Sources: Associated Press/
In the Spotlight
Al-Qaeda's funding sources drying up
Al-Qaeda's regular sources of funding seem to be disappearing after the death of Osama bin Laden an...
Join the discussion
RSS Feeds