More than 90 Australian firms are looking for new cooperation options to increase their presence in the Kingdom's burgeoning construction industry as a result of Saudi Arabia's giga- and megaprojects.

Discussions at a business-to-business gathering organized by the Australian Saudi Business Council at the Federation of Saudi Chambers centered on how Australian companies could support Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 transformation by utilizing their knowledge of sustainable construction, smart city technologies, and infrastructure.

The government of New South Wales, which is also taking part in the Big 5 building show, sent a delegation to the event.

This occurs as trade between Saudi Arabia and Australia is expected to reach $1.92 billion in 2023, continuing on its increasing trend. The Observatory of Economic Complexity, an online data visualization and dissemination platform, reports that Australia imported $847 million and exported $1.07 billion in commodities to Saudi Arabia.

With more than 11,000 Australians already employed in Saudi Arabia, mostly on mega and giga-projects, construction is still a significant area of opportunity, according to Sam Jamsheedi, head of the Australian Saudi Business Council. Australian companies have a huge opportunity to increase their footprint in the Kingdom.

This is in line with the memorandum of agreement to strengthen collaboration across several industries that was signed in May between the Export Council of Australia and the Australian-Saudi Business Council and Forum.

Talal Al-Sheer, his Saudi counterpart, emphasized the need of strengthening economic relations between the two countries. He mentioned that one of the main forces for growth is the Saudi-Australian connection. The Official Business Council has promoted joint ventures with local companies and made it easier for businesses to enter the Saudi market during the last three years. 

Moin Anwar, the NSW Trade Commissioner, underlined the value of direct interaction in fostering economic collaboration. Meetings like these, he added, are essential to growing their bilateral cooperation in a number of areas. One of the main areas where Australia can make a substantial contribution to Saudi Arabia's growth is in the areas of infrastructure and construction.