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Foreign Trade: Changing Composition and Direction

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The Saudi Arabian Economy
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Abstract

Saudi Arabia leads the Arab world in exports and imports, and ranks among the top five in the Islamic world, along with Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia and the UAE (Wilson, 2003). This chapter discusses the various aspects of foreign commerce, principally imports and exports; we will look at how the composition has changed over time as well as their impact on the Kingdom’s balance of payments. We will closely examine Saudi exports to assess the success of the economic diversification programme to date, as well as to analyse Saudi product export competitiveness. The final section of the chapter sets out model guidelines for a more effective export promotion programme to help the private sector achieve the country’s economic diversification goal.

Commerce is the equalizer of the wealth of nations.

Gladstone

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Correspondence to Mohamed A. Ramady .

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Ramady, M.A. (2010). Foreign Trade: Changing Composition and Direction. In: The Saudi Arabian Economy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5987-4_9

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