Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: The American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia (AmChamKSA) and Golf Saudi have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which addresses key areas of collaboration including investor attraction, mass participation, co-hosting of events, green initiatives, marketing, education, and research and innovation.

The MoU signing ceremony was held at King Abdullah Economic City’s Royal Greens Golf & Country Club during the Aramco Team Series with the first-of-its-kind professional tournament serving as the backdrop for this landmark event.

Keynote remarks were made by Majed Al-Sorour, Deputy Chairman of the Saudi Golf Federation and CEO of Golf Saudi, an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

Al-Sorour highlighted his enthusiasm for Golf Saudi’s collaborative initiatives with AmChamKSA, such as the MoU signing and joint support for the organisation’s Green Agenda, which was developed in 2020 to address environmental and sustainability best practise.

Al-Sorour said: “The Green Agenda sets out policies for an environmental national governance strategy, addressing best-practise principles that will allow all stakeholders to benefit equally through state-of-the-art sustainability initiatives, guidelines and operations.

“Environmental sustainability is fundamental to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and our commitment to this has led to the creation of the world’s first environmentally governed golf eco-system.”

Golf Saudi is doubling its efforts to inspire and encourage a nationwide culture of environmental and ecological innovation throughout all of its on-going pioneering initiatives.

This included Golf Saudi signing-up to a United Nations initiative for sporting organisations aimed at achieving ambitious global climate change goals. Golf Saudi is now one of the latest members of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, a growing community of organisations, leagues, tours and sporting tournaments committed toward the Paris Agreement’s net zero targets.

AmChamKSA Chairman Tarik Solomon said: “This event demonstrates the power that collaboration can have on amplifying key issues that resonate globally like many of the cross-cutting green initiatives and investor relations synergies shared between AmChamKSA and Golf Saudi.

“Forming bilateral agreements such as this one allows us to combine efforts in alignment with Vision 2030’s priorities.”

AmChamKSA is one of the oldest and largest bilateral trade associations in Saudi Arabia, devoted to promoting the development of trade, commerce and investment between the United States and Saudi Arabia. AmChamKSA helps its members to connect, grow, and prosper in the Kingdom.

As such, the organisations are looking forward to identifying strategic programmes and activities with their member companies and global network to support Mass Participation initiatives for golf in Saudi Arabia as part of the Golf Saudi’s effort to increase adoption of the sport of golf across the Kingdom.

The event included programming surrounding sustainability and green initiatives as a first effort towards highlighting the bilateral support outlined in the MOU.

Maryam Telmesani, United Nations Global Compact Board Chairwoman, gave keynote remarks, followed by a panel discussion featuring Ed Edwards, COO of Golf Saudi, AmChamKSA Board Member Amanda-Grace Tafunai, and Suleman Mulla, Partner at PWC, a corporate member of AmChamKSA.

The panel discussed their individual corporate efforts towards supporting the Vision 2030 green initiatives and how these efforts can be combined to maximise their impact in the future.

The signing of the AmChamKSA and Golf Saudi MoU came on the heels of the American Chamber of Commerce’s chapter charter signing, wherein the global organisation officially expanded, establishing its third Saudi chapter in Jeddah.