Doing business with Saudi Arabia

THERE is strength in numbers. If the Saudi Arabia-Caricom Summit stood for any principle, it stood for that.

Whatever mixed signals emerged from this month’s gathering in Riyadh, it sent an unequivocally clear signal that Saudi Arabia is interested in the region as a whole.

There may be much room for productive bilateral relations between individual Caricom countries, but these would only be instrumental within the context of deeper economic integration.

The kingdom has been knocking on the region’s doors for some time now. And this country, too, has been knocking on Saudi Arabia’s.

In 2018, a TT-Saudi Arabia business forum, the first of its kind, was convened in Port of Spain under the aegis of the Trade Ministry.

In 2019, a non-resident Saudi Arabian ambassador to TT was appointed (there is no embassy).

In 2022,  TT’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Amery Browne met with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of the Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim, at the margins of a summit in Angola.

In September this year, TT’s Prime Minister held bilateral talks with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism Ahmed Alkhateeb, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Earlier this month, Energy Minister Stuart Young hosted officials from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), a Saudi Arabian government agency.

If we have been inching closer to this seemingly far-flung country, there is good reason for this economically.

“Our positions are so close, one wonders how come this did not happen before,” Dr Rowley remarked on Monday, not long after his return from the summit.

The announcement by Caribbean Airlines Ltd of strategic collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s Air Connectivity Programme points to one obvious area of closeness. It makes sense, given the needs of TT’s Muslim community, to create efficient air links that allow pilgrimages.

Beyond this, Saudi Arabia’s production levels have a direct bearing on oil prices and, therefore, the prospects of our economy.

By implication, Riyadh’s role in Middle East stability is also of great relevance, especially considering the Israel-Hamas war.

Substantial capital flows could also have a direct bearing on foreign direct investment here.

But there are risks. It was only a few years ago that world leaders were condemning Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and de-facto leader of Saudi Arabia – with whom Dr Rowley was pictured chatting – after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and journalist in 2018.

Today, leaders turn a blind eye to the country’s authoritarianism, with US President Joe Biden fist-bumping the crown prince at a meeting last year and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visiting Riyadh last month. Caricom is in good company.

The Saudis have agreed to support the region’s hosting of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024. Meanwhile, Caricom has agreed to Saudi Arabia's hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup. “Sportswashing” concerns have been put aside in the hope that commerce will guarantee peace and prosperity for both sides. We shall see.