VZCZCXRO4395
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHJI #0384/01 1431255
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231255Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9189
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1396
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1474
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 6521
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000384 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BTIO EAGR ECON EIND KISL PREL SA SCUL SENV
SUBJECT: TABUK SAUDI ARABIA:  NORTHERN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 
EAGER TO PROMOTE TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
REF: JEDDAH 221 
 
JEDDAH 00000384  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  On May 16, the CG and Pol/Econ Chief met with 
the Board of Directors of the Tabuk Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry and the Manager of the Supreme Commission for 
Tourism (SCT).  The Board enthusiastically promoted the 
agricultural and industrial developments in the region and 
expressed a desire to improve economic links with the United 
States.  The CG promised to assist in promoting economic 
relations and recommended the Board establish a liaison with 
the FCS Section in the Consulate General.   The SCT 
representative presented a detailed and well-reasoned plan 
for promoting non-Muslim tourism in the region without 
offending conservative sensibilities.  The Board conveyed its 
belief that the violent image of Saudi Arabia was not 
justified and impaired economic relations.  The CG explained 
the practical basis for the Travel Warning, but also noted 
that business could be pursued while observing reasonable 
security precautions. The Board offered an ambiguous 
assessment of the status of water resources in the region. 
Observation suggested that means of transportation in the 
area are limited. 
 
TABUK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 
 
¶2.  On May 16, CG and Pol/Econ Chief met with the Chairman 
and Board of Directors of the Tabuk Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry in their Headquarters building in the city of Tabuk. 
 The discussion was led by Chairman Mohammed H. Al-Balawi, 
Vice Chairman Hassan Ibn Homoud Mohamed Al-Shehri and Board 
Member Jamal Al-Fakhri.  About 15 other members of the Board 
of the Chamber were present.  Also in attendance was Fouad M. 
Alghorayed, Executive Director of the Tabuk office of the 
Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT).  The members of the 
Chamber all exhibited pride in the economic progress their 
region is making and a desire to promote greater development 
with external partners.  The Chamber expressed their great 
pleasure at hosting a meeting with the CG.  On her departure, 
they presented the CG with a statement, an informal 
translation of which follows: 
 
To:  U.S. Consul General in Saudi Arabia 
 
Asalam Alaeikom, 
 
On behalf of the members of Tabuk Chamber of Commerce, I 
thank you for visiting us in Tabuk Region.  Your honorable 
visit will definitely flourish the bilateral relations 
between our two countries.  Saudi Arabia has always 
maintained a clear policy towards stability and world peace. 
The Saudi American relations go back to the late King 
Abdulaziz and President Roosevelt in 1945. 
 
Ever since that date, the Kingdom has worked hard to develop 
its status as a solid industrial base.  This industrial 
development is witnessed by everyone.  The Kingdom is 
currently exporting its petrochemicals to 139 nations. 
 
Finally, I would like to thank you for your visit and hope 
that you will honor us with another visit soon. 
 
End translation. 
 
AGRICULTURE IN TABUK 
 
¶3.  With obvious pride, the members of the Chamber described 
the economy of the region.  Agriculture takes the preeminent 
place.  Tabuk is considered the breadbasket of the Kingdom, 
being the center of wheat production.  The Chamber members 
spoke with special satisfaction about the cut flower 
greenhouses that yearly produce more than 50 million blooms 
for local, regional, and international flower markets.  The 
Chamber participants related that the complex, modern 
irrigation and farming system in the region had been planned 
with the aid of American universities and consultants.  They 
particularly emphasized the contribution made by the 
University of Nebraska, with which they still maintain close 
ties, as well as with other colleges and consultants in the 
United States.  Much of the irrigation and agricultural 
equipment used in the region was supplied by American 
manufacturers. 
 
 
JEDDAH 00000384  002 OF 003 
 
 
WATER PRIMARILY FROM AQUIFERS 
 
¶4.  Virtually all of the water for domestic, agricultural, 
and industrial use comes from the large aquifer underlying 
the region and extending into southern Jordan.  In response 
to the CG's queries about surveys to gauge the depletion rate 
of the aquifer, the Chamber members responded with 
contradictory statements.  One replied that there was ample 
water for far into the future, another said there had not 
been a comprehensive survey, a third stated that there had 
been no discernible drop in the water table.  What they did 
agree on when the question was raised about cooperation with 
Jordan, which also has a claim on this vital resource, was a 
shared, mild scorn for Jordanian operations.  They insisted 
that their operations were designed scientifically to use the 
water efficiently and implied that there were controls to 
prevent wasteful use of water in the region.  In contrast, 
they complained that the Jordanians were shipping the water 
north to their cities and other agricultural areas, rather 
than using it around its natural source. 
 
INDUSTRY IN TABUK 
 
¶5.  The Chamber members aggressively promoted their 
industrial accomplishments, describing a substantial and 
growing industrial sector.  Much of it is based on the local 
natural and mineral resources.  The region supports 
substantial brick-making and cement factories.  It also 
produces the raw-materials for glass, and then ships these 
constituents to factories elsewhere.  There also exist 
relatively new, but growing industries in pharmaceuticals, 
fertilizer, and plastics.  Despite the disdain voiced by the 
Chamber for Jordan transferring water out of the region, one 
Board member volunteered that his business bottles water and 
ships it throughout the kingdom and beyond. 
 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
 
¶6.  Although the region exports a significant variety of 
products to other areas of the kingdom and abroad, 
transportation infrastructure will be a major obstacle to 
growth.  There is no rail service to the region.  Products 
produced near the coast may be sent by sea, but access to the 
few small ports from inland is not easy.  Consequently, 
virtually all goods, even the heaviest such as cement and 
bricks, must be transported by truck.  The road network is 
not extensive.  Only a skeleton of roads twists through the 
mountains and wadis to connect the population centers with 
the coast and the rest of the Kingdom.  The remarkable 
exception is the flower market.  Being a high-value, 
time-sensitive product, flowers can economically be shipped 
by air to neighboring countries and Europe. 
 
TOURISM AN ATTRACTIVE MARKET 
 
¶7.  Like his colleague in Jeddah, Fouad M. Alghorayed, the 
local manager of the SCT, has extensive plans to promote 
tourism in the Tabuk region.  The Chamber of Commerce fully 
supports this effort.  Their plans parallel those described 
to Pol/Econ Chief by the SCT in Jeddah (reftel).  Tabuk 
possesses over 700 km of seacoast offering many potential 
sites for diving and other forms of recreation. 
 
¶8.  There are many ancient and historical sites in the 
region.  Tabuk occupies the heart of the ancient Nabatean 
civilization that extended from the world-renowned city of 
Petra in Jordan to spectacular, but less well-known Midian 
Salah located just south of the border of Tabuk Governate. 
Previously averse to even acknowledging a pre-Islamic 
existence, the new tourism and development officials now seem 
to recognize the attraction of ancient civilizations and 
display a determination to profit from them.  There are 
potential attractions from other eras as well.  Remnants of 
the celebrated Hejaz Railway, destroyed by the Arab Revolt 
during World War I may be seen in many places, including the 
very center of Tabuk, and Ottoman-era forts and watchtowers 
dot the landscape along the historic caravan and pilgrimage 
routes.  The landscape itself is also an attraction, stark 
mountains and precipitous ravines are interspersed with vast 
tracts of desert and volcanic debris.  Although forbidding, 
it is also impressive, even majestic scenery, and there are 
few places in the world where a person can more truly be 
 
JEDDAH 00000384  003.4 OF 003 
 
 
alone with nature. 
 
FOREIGN TOURISTS WILL BE WELCOMED 
 
¶9.  The primary target market is domestic and religious 
travelers, but, like his colleague in Jeddah, Alghorayed also 
wants to exploit the non-Muslim market.  Again he was 
enthusiastically supported by the Board of the Chamber.  The 
SCT director said that he expected that within the week the 
government would announce that it would issue Tourist Visas. 
 
¶10.  Acknowledging that the Tabuk Region is more conservative 
socially than Jeddah, the group has given considerable 
practical thought to fashioning plans that will allow 
tourists to enjoy the attractions of the region without 
unduly upsetting conservative elements in society. 
Initially, at least, independent tourism will be kept to a 
minimum.  They envision tourists coming into the kingdom 
being met by trained guides and shepherded to tourist resorts 
that will maintain a freer environment than prevails in Saudi 
communities.  Demonstrating their pragmatic approach, they 
intend to focus on the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea coast, 
where they can promote diving and maritime recreation and 
house tourists in facilities relatively isolated from the 
local population.  The Gulf of Aqaba will be the first target 
for tourist development.  They foresee the Saudi coast of the 
Gulf being integrated into tours coming from resorts in 
Sinai, Israel and Jordan.  They are even exploring the 
possibility of bringing tourists from the Egyptian resorts 
directly by sea to resorts on the Saudi side of the Gulf 
without requiring visas for Saudi Arabia. 
 
AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DESIRED 
 
¶11.  In order to implement this scheme, the SCT and Chambr 
said they wanted to contact American consultans and 
organizations involved in tourism developmet and managemnt. 
 The CG recommended that they ontact the Consulate 
Commercial attach, who has eceived a similar request from 
SCT's Jeddah manaer.  The Board members all expressed a 
desire to expand trade and development with the United States. 
 
SECURITY AND AMERICAN BUSINESS 
 
¶12.  In connection with the prospect for increasing travel 
and trade, they expressed grave concern about the image of 
Saudi Arabia in the United States and the role of the 
Department's Travel Warning in shaping that image.  They 
strenuously argued that one is much safer in Saudi Arabia 
then in virtually any major American city.  They asked that 
the Consulate modify its Travel Warning, recommend expatriate 
families return to the Kingdom, and encourage American 
business-people to come to the Kingdom. 
 
¶13.  The CG explained that the Consulate was obligated to 
give a reasoned estimate of the danger to American citizens 
and the Travel Warning reflected current conditions.  The 
preceding week's shooting at the Consulate was offered as 
evidence that the situation may not yet be fully stabilized. 
The CG also explained that although American cities possibly 
presented a greater risk of violence, this was a random risk, 
whereas the threat to Americans in Saudi Arabia was a 
targeted risk.  The CG concluded by noting that the warning 
did not prohibit Americans from coming to Saudi Arabia. 
Pol/Econ Chief amplified the CG's remarks by pointing out 
that the Saudi economy is attracting attention in America and 
their accession to WTO added to this growing attraction and 
many American businesses are exploring ways to develop 
business relations with Saudi Arabia. 
Gfoeller