RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the US have seen steadily growing economic ties throughout a relationship spanning more than 80 years, beginning with oil and expanding to defense and technology in recent years.
What began as a reliance on oil and gas has expanded to more diverse economic collaboration built on Vision 2030 initiatives.
Economic cooperation between the two nations was solidified in the early 1930s when King Abdulaziz granted the right of oil exploration to the American company Standard Oil through a 66-year contract. This led to the formation of the Arabian-American Oil Company, better known as Aramco.
Saudi Arabia and the US signed an interim diplomatic trade agreement in 1932, establishing an initial framework for trade, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Aramco’s Dammam Well No. 7 struck commercial quantities of oil in 1938, ushering in a new age in the Kingdom’s development.
In the early 1970s the two countries deepened their trading relationship. In 1972, the value of the Kingdom’s imported goods and materials from the US was $314 million, and the Kingdom’s exports were $194 million.
Economic relations between the two countries were underlined in June 1974 through the formation of the US-Saudi Arabian Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, which provided US expertise to develop infrastructure to advance Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economic development.
The two countries agreed to increase the number of private US companies working on local projects in the Kingdom.
The two nations went on to maintain a steady and growing economic relationship with partnerships largely focusing on defense, energy, investment and technology.
The partners took a step forward in their economic cooperation in 2005 by formalizing a partnership in education with the King Abdullah Scholarship Program. This program allowed thousands of Saudi students to study in US universities, building a long-term foundation for a knowledge-based economy.
According to a White House fact sheet, Saudi Arabia is now one of the US’ largest trading partners in the Middle East.
The Kingdom’s direct investment in the US totaled $9.5 billion in 2023, and was focused on the transportation, real estate, and automotive sectors.
US-Saudi goods trade totaled $25.9 billion in 2024, with US exports at $13.2 billion and imports at $12.7 billion.
One recent major platform for economic cooperation was the Saudi-US Investment Forum held in Riyadh in May, at which Saudi Arabia signed deals with the US worth more than $300 billion.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, speaking at the forum, said the Kingdom was looking at $600 billion of investment opportunities, adding that he hoped this would rise to $1 trillion.
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha, speaking to the Saudi Press Agency on the sidelines of the forum, said that the event reflected the Kingdom’s growing prominence on the global digital economy map, with the country the largest digital economy in the region and a key hub for investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Nov. 18 will mark another milestone in the Saudi-US relationship with the Saudi crown prince meeting US President Donald Trump in Washington.
The relationship between the countries, which was underlined by the meeting between King Abdulaziz Al-Saud and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board the USS Quincy in 1945, has endured and prospered.
And these ties have witnessed continued economic expansion and moves into new sectors like technology.
