World

Saudi-Spanish ties to get a fillip

April 12, 2018

CROWN PRINCE Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, held talks with Spain's King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace on the outskirts of Madrid on Thursday, before hosting a lunch there in his honor.

The Crown Prince also met Minister of Defense of Spain Maria Dolores de Cospedal.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations; ways of enhancing cooperation between the two countries in defense and military fields, the promising opportunities to transfer and localize technology in line with Saudi Vision 2030; the latest developments in the Middle East and the world and the efforts to fight terrorism and extremism.

The Crown Prince is expected to sign five memorandums of understanding in the areas of culture, science, employment, air transport and defense when he meets with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy later in the day.

Prince Muhammad arrived in Spain late on Wednesday hot on the heels of a three-day official visit to France and after a tour lasting several weeks of Egypt, the United States and Britain that saw him sign multimillion-dollar deals.

Madrid is the last stop of his global diplomatic charm offensive in a bid to project a new liberal image of his country. Top-selling daily newspaper El Pais reported earlier this week that Spain would likely make progress during his visit on a deal to sell five corvettes warships to Saudi Arabia for around two billion euros ($2.5 billion).

"The signing of this memorandum of understanding (on defense) can be a step in that direction," a Spanish government source told AFP.

Spain's loss-making shipbuilder Navantia is placing a lot of hope on the deal, which has reportedly been under negotiation for two years.

Spanish firms have already won two major infrastructure contracts in Saudi Arabia in recent years.

A Spanish consortium, Al-Shoula, is building a high-speed railway across the desert to link the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah while Spanish construction group FCC leads one of three consortia building a rapid transit system in the Saudi capital.

Spain's public works ministry has identified Saudi Arabia as one a "nation of interest".

Under Prince Muhammad's "Vision 2030", a package of economic and social policies designed to free the Kingdom from dependence on oil exports, Riyadh plans to spend 32 billion euros in transportation infrastructure in the next decade. — Agencies


April 12, 2018
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