S Arabia offers 'extraordinary opportunity' for Irish firms

DUBAI, Mar 03 (Arab News): Saudi Arabia offers an "extraordinary opportunity" for Irish firms looking to invest in everything from technology to tourism, according to Ireland's minister for enterprise, trade and employment.
Appearing on the Arab News current-affairs show "Frankly Speaking," Simon Coveney singled out the Gulf region as a "really good example of how international trade can create wealth, can create employment, and also can ultimately provide stability and an absence of conflict."
As part of a Gulf tour, Coveney recently paid a visit to Riyadh to meet with Majid Al-Qasabi, Saudi Arabia's minister of commerce, and other high-level officials.
"The main topic of discussion was Saudi ambition, in terms of the vision for 2030, the extraordinary scale of project development that is currently happening in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he told Katie Jensen, the host of "Frankly Speaking."
"Whether that's on the Red Sea coast in terms of tourism, or whether it's the scale of development in terms of some of the other projects around Saudi Arabia, and the opportunity for international business that comes from that.
"Whether it's construction, whether it's technology, whether it's energy, whether it's transport and tourism, whether it's medtech and the pharmaceutical industry."
Former Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney being interviewed by Frankly Speaking host Katie Jensen.