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How Trump's visit left Saudi investors feeling excited

A giant billboard bearing portraits of US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman, is seen on a main road in Riyadh, on May 19, 2017.
Guiseppe Cacace | AFP | Getty Images

Saudi Arabian investors are confident over future business opportunities with the U.S. following President Donald Trump's visit over the weekend.

As the country tries to put concerns over a slowdown in oil prices aside, investors eye opportunities in the technological sector.

"The U.S. is a key market for Saudi Arabia," Jamal Al Kishi, CEO of Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank told CNBC.

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"In terms of investments by U.S. and Saudi into U.S., outlook is very positive, as Saudi Arabia is privatizing...Saudi also investing abroad to bring in technology to open market for its own products," he added.

Ammar AlKhudairy , chairman and founder of the private equity firm Amwal AlKhaleej, told CNBC last Friday that the modernization of the Saudi Arabian economy should mean opportunities across different sectors for American investors.

"We have two major themes going on, which is the drop of the oil price - that's the bad news and then we have the national transformation plan, which is the good news," he said.

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"We need to pick the interest of multinational companies to come and invest in Saudi Arabia…in various fields," AlKhudairy told CNBC.

"So this visit, the economic or the business aspect of it, is very exciting because we hope that it will raise the awareness of many more U.S. corporations into Saudi Arabia," he said.

Fahd al Rasheed, Group CEO of King Abdullah Economic City, sees the private sector re-shifting its portfolio. "You're talking about housing, logistics, tourism, leisure, all hyper-growth sectors," he said.

First Overseas Trip

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Saudi Arabia was President Trump's first overseas trip, a surprising choice after he questioned the country's involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attack during his campaign. In March, however, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia visited the White House, where both seemed to view Iran as a threat.

Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief at Arab News, described the Trump's visit as "historic."

Some in Saudi Arabia believed that former U.S. President Barack Obama was going soft on Iran in order to reach an agreement over its nuclear program.

"It's quite a historic visit in the sense that it's kind of a one-stop shop for the Trump administration to set his agenda on the challenges facing the region," Abbas told CNBC on Friday morning.

"It is time to reset relation, realigning the alliances, trying to fix as much as we can," he said.

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