RIYADH: The Nigerian Foreign Minister said he hoped trade with Saudi Arabia would flourish after new trade and diplomatic initiatives were established during a visit to Riyadh.

Geoffrey Onyeama and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan agreed on the establishment of a joint business council and a diplomatic corps exchange program to enhance cooperation and deepen relations.

“We both agreed that we already had good relations between the two countries, especially good political relations. We have common values,” Onyeama told Arab News.

“But we felt we could make a big improvement on the level of trade in particular. We have similar economic profiles because we are both oil-producing and oil-exporting countries, so the energy sector is a sector in which we are both very strong, ”he said.

Prince Faisal and Onyeama reviewed bilateral cooperations and discussed opportunities that will further strengthen security, trade, energy and economy.

“We have underscored the importance of enabling investment in each other’s countries, and the importance of translating this into concrete action,” Onyeama said of the new council.

He said the initiative would have 10 people on each side – “prominent entrepreneurs, from the public and private sectors, as well as some of the institutional players like the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc.

“We want it to be an institutional mechanism for concrete trade promotion,” he added, saying he hoped to see a spark in economic cooperation.

The second initiative will allow young diplomats from both countries to meet regularly to create better understanding and strengthen relations.

“What we are doing is building this strong bond between them so that they grow through the system, their careers as foreign service officers, they will have this familiarity with each other and know how each side operates. and will make it much easier to forge what we want to be a special relationship between the two countries,” he said.

Young diplomats will exchange visits every two years for two to three weeks and examine global issues facing their regions.

“We believe that these two institutional mechanisms that we are putting in place will see the relationship even closer in five to seven years,” Onyeama said.

Relations between the two countries are already strong. Nigeria was one of the first countries to support the Kingdom’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

Onyeama said he and Prince Faisal reviewed areas where they can promote business, including energy, inclusiveness, security and stability.

“Saudi Arabia…has made great strides in the areas of renewable energy, so that’s something we’ve been focusing on,” he said.

“We are also two countries looking to diversify their economies and much more in areas such as agriculture, especially renewable energy.”

He added that the two ministers also discussed hoped-for reforms of multinational bodies such as the UN, “to make them more inclusive and more representative of today’s world” so that they can address issues “that are important for developing countries such as ourselves and Saudi Arabia.

Ministers also discussed various key global issues in their regions, including Libya, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, as well as the terrorist crises in West Africa.

“There are challenges, we have recognized security and terrorism and their emergencies, especially in the West African regions, as well as the terrorist challenges that you are also facing in your regions and how we can cooperate in these areas,” he said.

Onyeama also acknowledged the financial support Nigeria has received from Saudi Arabia and the efforts to organize a donors’ conference to help in the humanitarian crises caused by the terrorist group Boko Haram.

The two ministers then discussed the management of climate action. “It is interesting to learn about the progress Saudi Arabia has made in the area of ​​clean energy, solar energy and wind energy in particular and we felt that these are areas where Nigeria can learn. and benefit from investments from Saudi Arabia”.

Onyeama said there are many strong ties between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

“The contact between peoples is there, the religious contact is there and then the solidarity that has been built as oil-exporting countries is also there,” he added.

“The largest number of Nigerians outside of Nigeria will be in Saudi Arabia, Nigerians have been coming to Saudi Arabia for generations now, three, four, five generations.”

During the Kingdom visit, Onyeama also visited the birthplace of the first Saudi state, Diriyah, where he discussed the Kingdom’s cultural heritage.