00:00It's more than just a nuclear deal. Like Dr. Ali said, I think this is a strategic partnership.
00:04It's a very smart one. It's going to shape U.S.-Saudi relations, I think, for decades to come.
00:08And I think this is a very positive move, and it's the latest in a series of positive relations
00:14between the U.S. and between Saudi Arabia.
00:16So if we look at this deal in terms of what it actually means,
00:18it's U.S. companies having a central role in nuclear infrastructure here in Saudi Arabia,
00:23in engineering, the technology, and in fuel cycle development.
00:26And I think as we work towards the Vision 2030, but also in the next 50 years as well,
00:31you will see Saudi Arabia's demand for energy probably double by 2050.
00:35So this is a very clear, this is a potential pillar for the future more than anything else.
00:40Energy generation is obviously a huge, pivotal issue for many, many countries around the globe,
00:45and Saudi taking this step to have a civilian-built nuclear energy infrastructure is incredibly important.
00:52It also diversifies energy within the country as well and takes it beyond oil,
00:56beyond that gas reliance that we've seen previously as well.
00:59And that's part of that 2030 vision. That reliance will become less and less.
01:02And as I said, in the next 50 years with the double requirement on energy requirements here in the kingdom,
01:07that obviously is very, very important.
01:10So we're going to see that move away from fossil fuels and petrochemicals towards sources such as this.
01:16And again, because water is not a natural resource that we have here, hydro is not necessarily an option.
01:21Nuclear is the obvious way to go.
01:23But what it does behind the scenes is deepen security cooperation.
01:25I also think strategically, if you're looking at regional partners and who potentially could be that regional partner,
01:31for a Gulf country, you would look at places like Russia and China.
01:33And I think the U.S., strategically from their point of view,
01:36takes that out of the hands of China and Russia and puts it firmly in a U.S. position,
01:41which I think is a solid place politically to demonstrate where they need to be.
01:44And mentioning that political standpoint as well, like Dr. Reilly said,
01:47it is a very high level of trust that those two governments have between each other,
01:51which I think we've seen build in the last couple of years.
01:53We've seen some very positive meetings in the last couple of years between the two parties as well.
01:58And this is the further step on from that as well.
02:00And I can see it being a long-lasting, very positive for both the kingdom and for the U.S.'s
02:05point of view
02:06as a partnership more than anything else that goes much deeper than that,
02:09politically and also economically speaking.
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