RIYADH — The seventh session of the Joint Saudi-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation was held virtually on Tuesday.

The Saudi side was chaired by Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman while the Russian side was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak.

The committee emphasized the importance of the two historic visits of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to Moscow in October 2017 and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation to Riyadh in October of 2019. They also emphasized the importance of talks that took place between the two leaders during the visits.

On the occasion of the committee meeting, Prince Abdulaziz affirmed that the joint committee's work has constant follow-up and continuous support from Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman, deputy prime minister, and minister of defense.

He added that holding the committee's meetings regularly is a clear indication of the serious desire of Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach greater cooperation between them and proof that the partnership between the two countries is now stronger than ever.

The two parties agreed on the second phase of the road map to implement the high-level Saudi-Russian strategic cooperation framework, which was signed in Riyadh in October 2019.

The two parties also agreed on about 60 areas of cooperation between the two countries, and 51 opportunities and projects were placed on the road map, which has nearly tripled the number of new projects during this phase of the road map, which extends to 2023.

During the virtual meeting, the committee focused on eleven sectors: energy, economy, investment, information, communication technologies, industry, health, education, science, space, media, culture and tourism, transportation, geology and natural resources, and agriculture. — SPA