Ambassador Kirk Meets with Saudi Arabian Minister for Commerce and Industry Abdullah Ali Reza

This morning, Ambassador Kirk hosted a meeting with the Saudi Arabian Minister for Commerce and Industry, Abdullah Ali Reza. At the meeting, Ambassador Kirk and Minister Reza discussed the United States and Saudi Arabia bilateral trade relationship as well as the status of the Doha negotiations. Ambassador Kirk also noted the significant progress Saudi Arabia has made in improving IPR protection and enforcement during the past year; Saudi Arabia was removed from the Special 301 Watch List as a result. In 2008, two-way goods trade between America and Saudi Arabia totaled $67 billion, making Saudi Arabia the United States' 9th largest goods-trading partner. Additionally, in 2007, the latest year for which data is available, the United States maintained a surplus of over $2.5 billion in the trade of services with Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Kirk with Saudi Arabian Minister for Commerce and Industry Abdullah Ali Reza