Princess Reema: Today's US-Saudi relationship built on technology and innovation

Remarks come before expected visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to White House this month

Princess Reema bint Bandar, Saudi ambassador to the US, during the America Business Forum in Miami on November 5. Reuters

Princess Reema bint Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US, hailed technological relations between the two countries as Riyadh seeks to continue opening up to investment.

Speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami, Princess Reema said the US-Saudi relationship is the strongest it has been and, while previous decades have been linked through energy and defence, the modern relationship is centred around business.

“Today, it's built on technology, built on innovation. It's built on relationships,” she said during a moderated discussion.

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Princess Reema's remarks come about two weeks before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's expected visit to the White House. US media has reported President Donald Trump is due to host Prince Mohammed in Washington on November 18, when the two are expected to announce expanded partnerships in artificial intelligence, energy and infrastructure.

Princess Reema did not confirm the visit but said: “We do have a very, very unique moment in time where the Crown Prince and the President are not just two leaders that have vision of how this world could look, they're collaborators in actually creating a peaceful world, actually creating a world that is business-friendly."

Mr Trump promoted a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US during his trip to the Gulf in May. The White House at the time said the deals would strengthen US energy security, its defence industry, technology leadership and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals.

The US has committed about $54 billion of foreign direct investment into Saudi Arabia's economy, according to the Saudi-US Investment Forum.

Multinationals have also made pushes into Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, with Goldman Sachs expanding its wealth management division in the kingdom to enhance its operations in Riyadh, where it has had a presence for more than a decade.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan also secured a regional headquarters licence in Saudi Arabia to expands its ground operations in the kingdom. Citigroup opened a regional headquarters in Riyadh last week.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to diversify its economy away from its dependence on oil through the Vision 2030 programme. The kingdom has made significant investments in tourism, sports, e-sports and AI as part of those efforts.

Princess Reema said the kingdom has been focused on investing in industries as part of the Vision 2030 project.

“What Vision 2030 aspires to is a diversified, thriving economy that celebrates youth and innovation, which brings us to AI and technology. It brings us to the United States,” she said.

“What we're looking for is collaboration. We would like to be the extension of the United States ecosystem, not a standalone.”

The expected visit also comes as Mr Trump tries to persuade Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords.

He has championed the accords signed in 2020, during his first term, that established diplomatic ties between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. The signing of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza last month could open the potential for discussing the establishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Mr Trump, who also spoke at the forum, said “we have a lot of people that are coming aboard”.

“We have a lot of people joining now the Abraham Accords, and hopefully we're gonna get Saudi Arabia very soon,” he said. “But I'm not saying that.”