By Lucien Zeigler | 1/26/12
His Excellency Tawfiq al-Rabiah, the recently appointed Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry has been active in his new role with the Saudi Government.
Minister al-Rabiah, who was appointed to the position in December of 2011, has already led delegations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India and Geneva, according to Arab media reports.
Al-Rabiah’s first trip abroad was to India, where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India discussed areas of cooperation and prospects for growth. Both India and Saudi Arabia are developing countries that have experienced strong economic growth in the last decade. Saudi Arabia also has strong political and economic ties with neighboring Pakistan.
On January 17, Al-Rabiah met with Ron Malone, his American counterpart from the United States, in Riyadh. During the meeting, they discussed trade and industrial relations between the two countries and means of bolstering cooperation as well as taking advantage of available opportunities and benefits, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Recently, Al-Rabiah kicked off the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, and was even selected by HRH King Abdullah to deliver the King’s opening remarks at the large conference. Also speaking at that forum was HRH Prince Turki al-Faisal and other influential members of Saudi Arabia’s government and business community.
In those remarks, Al-Rabiah spoke on behalf of King Abdullah in saying that “Saudi Arabia gives utmost importance to improving the lives of citizens through sustainable development and by strengthening the private and public sectors. This creates new job opportunities as well as increases the number of businesses and the country’s GDP.”
This week, al-Rabiah was in Geneva, Switzerland and continues to meet the WTO as the Kingdom’s Trade Policy Review process occurs. It is the first time the Kingdom has been reviewed by the WTO since 2005. Regarding the review, al-Rabiah said that the meeting provided an opportunity to review the accomplishments of the Kingdom in economic growth and diversification over the past years, according to Arab News.
HE al-Rabiah was formerly Director General of MODON, the Saudi General Property Authority, before relinquishing that position to assume his new role as Saudi Minister of Commerce.
Al-Rabiah spoke at the 2011 US-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum in December just days before he was officially appointed as the new Minister of Commerce. [A video of his speech at that conference can be viewed here.]
Al-Rabiah is also in touch with the increasingly connected Saudi population on Social Media sites Twitter and Facebook, with over 20,000 followers on the former. His account is in Arabic.
HE Tawfiq Al-Rabiah holds a Bachelors Degree from King Saud University and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and also previously worked for SAGIA, as Director General of the Information and Communications Technology sector.
