Business leaders and representatives from the private sectors in Saudi Arabia and the UK signed three agreements on the sidelines of the Saudi-British Business Council meetings, which opened in the British capital, London, the day before yesterday.

The first agreement was signed between Amial Gulf and a British law firm to invest 30 million pounds in the London real estate sector. The second agreement involved the establishment of a company specializing in education, with a capital of 10 million riyals, to organize training courses at major companies for Saudi graduates of British universities.

The third agreement was between Al-Ajlan Global and a British company to establish a factory in Saudi Arabia to localize the domestic solar energy industry.

The Council meeting was opened by Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Minister of Commerce and Industry, in the presence of Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Ambassador to the UK, and Lord Astor, UK Minister of State for Defense.

Al-Rabiah delivered a speech at the opening of the meeting, in which he explained that Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries in the Middle East in attracting foreign direct investment.

He added that statistics from UNCTAD show that the volume of these investments over the past five years reached $141 billion. He emphasized that these foreign direct investments, along with $718 billion in government spending during the same period, have bolstered sustained economic growth.

The Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry praised the strong performance of trade between Saudi Arabia and the UK, which reached $16 billion in 2012. Saudi exports to the UK increased by 60 percent, reaching $3.7 billion.

During the meeting, Lord Astor also spoke about the growth of trade relations and the opportunities available to investors in both countries.

The meeting was attended by Baroness Simons, Chair of the British side of the Saudi-British Business Council, and Engineer Nasser Al-Mutawa, Chair of the Saudi side, in addition to the rest of the Council’s members.

Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, in the presence of Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Britain, met yesterday with Fiona Wolf, Mayor of London’s City and Business District.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to strengthen trade relations between Saudi Arabia and the UK.