The flourishing Saudi-American trade ties received yet another boost yesterday when senior management executives of the Ohio-based Solutions Plus, Inc. signed a partnership agreement with the Alkhobar-based Diversified Lines Petroleum Services Company (DLPS).

Solutions Plus President Charlie Weaver and DLPS President Salem Rajeh Al-Fhaidi inked the pact in the presence of DLPS General Manager Pervaiz I. Kashmiri and Solutions Plus Managing Director James J. Hartings.

US Consul for Commercial Affairs Nasir Abbasi was the special invitee at the signing ceremony.

“It is a proud moment for us, and we are looking forward to working together for the good of both companies and both countries,” said an extremely happy Weaver. “With years of experience, ours is the most diversified industrial specialty chemical company, and we are ready to play our role in the Saudi market with our top-quality product line.”

This is Weaver's first visit to the Kingdom and he was clearly impressed by what he saw in the three days that he has been here. “Well, everyone knows that this is a booming economy and our visit has only confirmed that ... We are truly excited with our partnership with DLPS.”

Weaver said the two companies saw great opportunities in Saudi Arabia. “Our managing director first came here in January as part of the American trade delegation from Ohio and met with DLPS executives, and soon realized that they are the ideal partners to distribute our products here. And so here we are signing this agreement,” he said. “All our product specialists will visit the Kingdom soon to share their expertise with the DLPS engineers and marketing people.”

Weaver said Solutions Plus, Inc. was looking at business in a number of industries, especially petrochemicals. “We are looking at roughly $ 20 million business in two to five years,” he told Arab News.

James Hartings, who Weaver credited for getting the company into Saudi Arabia, said: “We look forward to some great opportunities in developing the sale of our products in different industries.”

Hartings praised Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory for playing a lead role in connecting American companies with Saudi Arabia. “I was part of the delegation that was headed by him to Saudi Arabia early this year, so our thanks go to Mayor Mark Mallory as we celebrate this partnership.”

According to Kashmiri, DLPS is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company that provides reliable, responsive and assured services to the oil and gas, petrochemical, power and other industries in the region.

“We are convinced and confident about the products provided by Solutions Plus, Inc. Since American products are known for their good quality, they have always had a good reputation in the Saudi market, so we see a great potential for our two companies,” said Salem Al-Fhaidi.

“Through this partnership we are looking to solidify our relationship with our top customers such as Saudi Aramco, SABIC and Saudi Electricity Co,” said Pervaiz Kashmiri.

Both companies praised Nasir Abbasi's role in bringing them together. “He played a significant role,” said Al-Fhaidi. “Yes, without a doubt,” added Hartings.

Abbasi was delighted beyond words. “For me, this is a fantastic opportunity; I can go to the US and tell them about the opportunities here; but for the American companies to come here and see those opportunities for themselves, that is wonderful,” he said.

Abbasi described the partnership as a fruitful outcome of a series of delegations that have been organized in recent months. “US-Saudi relationships have a 70-year-long history, and that is based mostly on solid commercial ties,” he said. “This relationship is growing, and the numbers speak for themselves — the US-Saudi bilateral trade grew more than 42 percent in 2011, from $ 43 billion in 2010 to $ 61.3 billion in 2011, making Saudi Arabia the 12th largest trading partner of the US against the 15th position in 2010.”

He thanked the American Business Association for arranging the Ohio delegation that led to a number of good deals. “Heartened by these successes, we plan on having five delegations coming this way and 10 delegations going back to the US after Ramadan,” he said.