For his part, Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Minister of National guard and Chairman of the Saudi side of the Saudi-Russian Economic Committee, delivered a speech in which he affirmed the Saudi side's readiness to achieve the aims of future plans and joint ventures, lauding the Russian Direct Investment Fund's opening its branch in Riyadh, the first ever outside Russia. Reciprocally, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev, who is also Chairman of the Russian side of the Saudi-Russian Economic Committee, delivered a speech in which he lauded the Saudi-Russian cooperation and the keenness of both countries to develop and strengthen economic partnership between the two countries. Then, the heads of the Saudi and Russian companies delivered speeches in which they highlighted fields of cooperation and joint opportunities to consolidate bilateral cooperation. In conclusion, Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz and Kirill Dmitriev co-signed the minutes of the meeting. --SPA 21:01 LOCAL TIME 18:01 GMT 0032 www.spa.gov.sa/w1190787