Irish Saudi body pulls out of Riyadh meeting
An organisation made up of public and private companies and State-backed entities aimed at promoting business between Ireland and Saudi Arabia has pulled out of a business event in Riyadh next month.
The Ireland Saudi Arabia Business Council said it would not be participating in a joint business council meeting with Saudi business representatives in Riyadh on November 7 and 8, as entities such as Bank of Ireland and Dublin City University (DCU) Business School said they were reviewing their membership of the organisation.
It comes as the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues to dominate international headlines, with Saudi Arabia admitting the Washington Post contributor was killed in its Turkish consulate on October 2.
The council includes Bank of Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Dublin City University Business School, ESB International, VHI International and DAA International as members.
Other companies such as Kingspan, Fexco and Transfermate are also listed as members on the council website.
According to the council, in the past five years Irish companies have signed 11 contracts or memorandums of understanding with Saudi groups or companies through its network.
“The most notable of these has been the winning by DAA International of the contract to manage the new domestic Terminal 5 at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh in January 2016,” the council said on its website.
The council board of directors includes chairman Joseph Lynch, a former Irish ambassador to the Arab world who helped establish the first embassy of Ireland in Saudi Arabia in Jeddah in 1976.
Former ambassador to Saudi Arabia who retired from the role in 2014, Niall Holohan, is also a board member.
Mr Lynch confirmed the council “has decided not to participate” in the forthcoming Riyadh event.
Business group Ibec was scheduled to participate in an event with the council last week in Dublin but called off the day before. Bank of Ireland, which is 14% owned by the State, said it was concerned about recent events and was reviewing its council membership.
“Given the breadth of activity of our business customers internationally, Bank of Ireland has memberships with a number of business organisations that promote trade. We note, with concern, recent events and we are keeping this membership under active review,” the bank said.
DCU said it “is monitoring current developments related to Saudi Arabia and is reviewing its relationships in that context”.
Enterprise Ireland said that as a representative body for Irish companies exporting to Saudi Arabia, it “will continue to monitor and evaluate any situation which affects our ability to support Irish businesses who are currently exporting to the region”.
DAA International said it “follows all Irish government guidelines in relation to doing business in overseas locations”, while the ESB said it had no comment to make.
The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation said it was “imperative that a transparent and credible investigation gets to the facts” of the Khashoggi case, and a “united, common approach is adopted with our EU partners”.
