Riyadh- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has affirmed moving forward in the quest to reinforce strategic, commercial, investment and economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

The chamber stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that cooperation between Riyadh and Washington in the energy sectors resulted in a genuine partnership between the two states and led to an expansion in future partnership in a way that compelled economy diversification.

Furthermore, non-oil trade exchange is expected to reach USD30 billion in 2017.

“The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are devotedly working on building strategic economic relations for a long term period – there is a huge cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy to serve both parties’ interest. The U.S. Chamber aims for further cooperation with Saudi Arabia,” Steve Lutes, executive director of Middle East Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Lutes stressed that cooperation is ongoing between Riyadh and Washington to achieve change in all sectors including, healthcare, medical care, information technology and telecommunications.

He added that the U.S. business sector gives priority to Saudi Vision 2030 programs and goals and the National Transformation Program. It aims at accomplishing them through available opportunities and hiring sustainable knowledgeable expertise at U.S. companies in several fields.

The business sector also works on innovation and launching initiatives that fulfil ambitions of both countries, especially with the increasing hope to raise the trade exchange and investment and to transfer technology.

Riyadh-Washington trade exchanger reached in 2016 around SAR115 billion (USD30.6 billion), excluding oil. Exports from Saudi Arabia reached SAR3.1 billion (USD826.6 million) while U.S. imports reached SAR111 billion (USD29.6 billion).