Architects, engineers, construction managers and manufacturers of exterior and interior building materials who are looking for a boost in the wake of the recession may want to put an event June 6 on their calendar. That is, if they're looking to find out how they might get a piece of the $1.4 trillion Saudi Arabia plans to spend in the next 10 years to implement its national development plan.
The Sarasota-based Argus Foundation invites interested businesses to hear Ed Burton, president and managing director of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, discuss the business opportunities available to U.S. companies. He's speaking at breakfast event at 8 a.m. June 6 at the Longboat Key Club. Interested companies may also schedule a half-hour private meeting beginning at 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on a first-come basis.
Last month, Saudi Arabian King Abdullah announced an allocation of $66.67 billion to build a half million homes. That divides out to $133,340 per home that the kingdom plans to build as part of larger, ambitious plan to diversify the country's economy.
“The opportunity is not just for today,” says David Callahan, vice president of business development for the SABC. “For companies able to get a foothold in the market there's a pipeline of opportunity stretching into the next decade.”
Callahan says that while the initial focus is on residential development, including single-family homes, villas and apartments, the national development plan calls for new cities and a new industrial base to begin to diversify Saudi Arabia away from an oil-dominated economy.
“What they're looking to do is develop lesser developed parts of the country,” says Callahan. “One could be the size of Washington, D.C., where there's sand now.”
Kerry Kirschner, Argus' executive director, made the connection with the SABC through an old Georgetown University chum: Prince Turki Al Faisal, the youngest brother of King Abdullah, and a former ambassador to Great Britain. Kirschner says he discussed the idea for the meeting with the prince last year when Kirschner saw him at the debut of an IMAX film that the prince funded.
“He's very much concerned about the Saudi's image with the U.S.,” says Kirschner about the prince. Kirschner says Burton would be happy to set up a trade mission.
Anyone seriously considering going after the work might want to consider tagging along on such a trip and asking a few good questions.
Stephen Wilberding, a Casey Key resident who worked as a senior adviser at the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency for five and a half years in the late 1980s, says, “In general, the Al Faisal are very, very good people.” Still, he offers words of caution for business people, who may not be accustomed to such a different legal system. “I know a bunch of people who got taken for a ride,” he recalls.
“It's very important to know who the people are and how well grounded they are over there,” adds Wilberding, “and know what assurances there are so people won't get ripped off.”
Callahan, on the other hand, says: “Every foreign market has their legal business culture. The Saudis have gone a long way to make it a more business-friendly environment, particularly since joining the World Trade Organization to make it more transparent. They've been ranked by the World Bank as the 11th most business friendly country in the world.”
Kirschner calls Saudi Arabia American friendly and safe, but Wilberding still gives warning.
“There can be some very good things,” he says, but “It's absolutely essential that people know what they're doing there.”