DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 24, 2024--
The 2024 Zhejiang (Saudi Arabia) International Engineering Exhibition successfully concluded on November 21 at the Dhahran International Exhibition Center in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Organized by the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province and executed by the Zhejiang International Contractors Association and Hangzhou Boheng Business Exhibition Co., Ltd., the event was held in parallel with the influential Saudi Arabia (Dammam) Construction and Building Materials Exhibition.
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The Zhejiang delegation showcased a unified exhibition space, featuring 10 leading enterprises and 20 participants across a 105-square-meter area. Over the course of the four-day event, Zhejiang companies engaged with over 920 professional visitors from 12 countries and regions, achieving potential cooperation agreements valued at USD 5.7 million.
This exhibition highlights Zhejiang's continued commitment to global collaboration in engineering and construction. In recent years, the province has implemented significant initiatives under its "Groundnut Economy" and "No. 1 Opening-up Project," driving substantial growth in the international contracting sector. In 2023, Zhejiang’s foreign engineering projects secured new contracts worth USD 4.92 billion, reflecting a 7.4% year-on-year increase, while cumulative turnover reached USD 6.94 billion, an 8.4% rise. These achievements have solidified Zhejiang’s position as a leader in the industry, ranking fifth all provinces (municipalities) and advancing one position from the previous year.
Hangzhou Boheng Business Exhibition Co. Ltd served as the official media partner for the event.
Image caption - Shaping Smart Green Future with Zhejiang (Photo: Business Wire)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
