SAUDI GROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held talks here Tuesday with King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain on major regional and international issues. The Saudi Press Agency said the two leaders also explored ways of strengthening bilateral relations. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin attended the talks..” [Complete Report]
Saudis Buy Sikorsky Helicopters [Jul 21]
” Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry ordered three Sikorsky S-70i helicopters with options to purchase a dozen more. The order makes Saudi Arabia the launch customer for the new aircraft, which is an international version of Sikorsky’s Black Hawk, used by the U.S. Army and the armed forces of more than two dozen other countries. “We are proud to announce the sales launch of the S-70i international Black Hawk to our valued customer, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior,” Michael Ambrose, vice president of international military programs at Sikorsky, said. “The S-70i helicopter continues the legendary Black Hawk history of providing safe and reliable transportation for militaries around the world with exceptional value.”..” [Complete Report]
China, Saudi Arabia Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties [Jul 21]
“China and Saudi Arabia Wednesday celebrated their 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties at a reception here Wednesday. Senior Chinese political advisor Wang Zhizhen and the Saudi Ambassador to China, Yahya A. S. Alzaid, addressed the reception. Wang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, spoke highly of the development of Sino-Saudi relations. She said China is ready to make joint efforts with Saudi Arabia to deepen the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperative ties between the two nations. She also said China hopes to develop the bilateral strategic relationship..” [Complete Report]
S.Korea Firms Win Billion-Dollar Saudi Cable Deal [Jul 21]
” A South Korean consortium has won a one-billion dollar deal to lay fibre optic cables in Saudi Arabia, a state trade promotion agency said Wednesday. Korean Middle East Engineering, a joint venture of four South Korean businesses in the kingdom, was named main project contractor by Saudi Arabia’s Integrated Telecom Company, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said. The project is to set up a national network in Saudi Arabia and also to connect the country with Sudan, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates by undersea cable by December 2013, the agency said in a statement. “Since the Dubai debt crisis, Saudi Arabia is becoming an attractive market for South Korean businesses,” said Lee Kwan-Seok, head of the agency’s Korea Business Centre in the Saudi capital Riyadh..” [Complete Report]
Egypt-Saudi Power Grid Link Cost Seen at $1.5 bln [Jul 21]
“A project aimed at linking the power grids of electricity-hungry countries Egypt and Saudi Arabia to help meet peak-time demand is expected to cost about $1.5 billion, an Egyptian official said on Wednesday. An international tender for work on the project is scheduled for January 2011, Electricity Ministry Undersecretary Aktham Abul Ela said. Egypt will send Saudi Arabia electricity through the connection in the afternoons and Saudi Arabia will send electricity to Egypt in the evenings, taking advantage of the difference in the countries’ peak use hours, he added. He said the two countries would split the cost of the project — which aims to exchange 3,000 megawatts of electricity between the countries through direct current electrical lines — based on the amount of work on their land..” [Complete Report]
