Since its foundation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been keen to build bridges of communication with the countries of the world in accordance with a well-established and clear policy to build positive relationships based on respect, cooperation, and common interests.
The Kingdom's interest in establishing relations with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) stemmed from this principle, which reflects the Kingdom's openness to partnerships with active blocs in the international community.
The holding of the Saudi-CARICOM Summit today in Riyadh comes out of the keenness of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to strengthen relations and push them forward. It also comes as an appreciation of the participating countries for the Kingdom's position at the regional and international levels, which reflects their commitment to establishing an ambitious future strategic partnership with the Kingdom, based on common values and interests.
The summit is significant since it is the first of its kind to involve heads of CARICOM state.
Last May, the Kingdom participated in the ninth summit of heads of state and government of the Association of Caricom States, which was held in the Republic of Guatemala. This summit discussed the importance of multilateral coordination regarding international challenges, in addition to activating joint action to achieve international peace and security, and reach the goals of sustainable development 2030, thus establishing stability and prosperity for the countries and peoples of the world.
During its participation, the Kingdom affirmed its keenness to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with Caribbean countries, which play important roles in enhancing regional cooperation and advancing collective action on issues of common interest, such as trade, climate change, sustainable development, and others. The Kingdom also participated in the joint ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Association of Caricom States held last September in New York to establish a partnership between the two regional entities.
As part of ongoing economic cooperation, trade between the Kingdom and the Caribbean countries in 2023 was worth SAR203.18 million. The value of exported goods was SAR102.34 million. It included plastics and their products, machinery and mechanical tools and their parts, animal or vegetable fats and oils, copper and its products, dairy and eggs, and edible animal products.
