Saudi minister says Kingdom can become ‘bridge economy’ linking three continents

Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Kassabi said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia’s strategic location and vast resources position it to become a “bridge economy” linking Africa, Europe and Asia.

“As Saudi Arabia, we have a strategic location, we have a lot of resources. We could become a bridge economy,” al-Kassabi said during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He added that the Kingdom could also serve as a “connector economy,” linking Africa, Europe and Asia and emerging as a major logistics hub.

Al-Kassabi said trade has always been part of Saudi Arabia’s identity, noting that global trade is shifting away from traditional free trade toward what he described as a more “managed and role-driven” model.

Asked about trade within the Middle East and whether regional trade has increased, the minister replied: “I think the name of the game now is intelligent friction.”

“The whole world is shifting to protectionism… we don’t want fragmentation… we want regional globalization,” he said.

Al-Kassabi also said the World Trade Organization was in need of reform, expressing optimism that member states would eventually agree on the changes needed to strengthen the global trading system.