The exchange was a joint project by the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs and the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce, where the event was held.

“We will definitely intensify our efforts to bridge between the German-trained students and the German business community”

Representatives from companies such as Siemens and Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH met with students in large groups, as well as individual mock interviews, where the students’ CV’s and job opportunities were discussed.

The event was held solely in German, and GESALO government relations officer Shaden Altoukhi commented on what he said were “impressive” language skills.

“It was deeply impressive to see how enthusiastically the students get along with the challenges in a foreign country with a different educational system and bilingual lectures in German and English,” he said.

Oliver Oehms, the Delegate of German Industry & Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen commented on the apparent enthusiasm among the students for King Salman’s 2030 vision for the Saudi economy and society.

“I felt they are all keen to contribute to the achievement of the Saudi Vision 2030,” he said.

Oehms added that the smooth running of the event was encouraging in regards to future German-Saudi relations.

“We will definitely intensify our efforts to bridge between the German-trained students and the German business community. This is worth any effort from our end.”

The event was underlined as an important signal for the future, with GESALO recently completing a jobs portal, listing German companies offering work in Saudi Arabia, called JobXchange.

The platform was launched in early October and aims to strengthen the German-Saudi relations on the labour market by helping Saudi students stay up to date with job and internship opportunities offered by German companies in Saudi Arabia.