As the Pacific’s hub, Fiji has proudly served His Excellency, Ahmed Aqeel Al-Khateeb’s home base for his visits to Tonga, Kiribati, Palau, and Vanuatu over the past three days.

During a meeting with Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, he said that he had wonderful meetings across the region and built Pacific-wide support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host Expo 2030.

Mr Al-Khateeb is the first and current Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, the two spoke on where the Saudi Fund Development could make the biggest difference in the Fijian people’s lives, from tourism, to infrastructure development and MSME support.

The meeting included the Permanent Secretary for Economy, Shiri Gounder, Governor of Reserve Bank, Ariff Ali, Fiji Development Bank chief executive officer Saud Minam, and Head of Treasury at the Ministry of Economy, Nemia Dawai.

The minister also met Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. Following that, Mr Al-Khateeb visited the Solomon Islands before returning to Saudi Arabia.