After visits and meetings in Jerusalem and Ramallah during the first part of the tour, and Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Doha during the second, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon visited Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. In talks with the Saudi Foreign Minister, HRH Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, they stressed the catastrophic and inhumane situation in Gaza, which must end immediately. They agreed that it is unacceptable that humanitarian aid trucks cannot reach the people of Gaza or Rafah. "I have had the opportunity to see with my own eyes the appalling situation at the Rafah crossing. More than two thousand trucks are waiting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. It is truly sad that in the 21st century we allow people to starve and children to die," said Minister Fajon.

She expressed concern that the conflict could spill over into the wider region and underlined Slovenia's efforts to promote an early ceasefire and a two-state solution. She also outlined Slovenia's procedures for recognising Palestine. "The Minister expressed his support for Slovenia to start the procedures for the recognition of Palestine and believed that the recognition should take place as soon as possible. We agreed that we must all work together to step up international pressure for a de-escalation of tensions and towards a two-state solution," said Ms Fajon. During the talks, the two ministers also discussed the good bilateral relations and their desire to work even more closely together.

Saudi Arabia is Slovenia's most important economic partner in the Gulf, ranking 21st among foreign trade partners. In 2023, the total value of trade in goods amounted to €1.132 billion, of which exports amounted to €129 million and imports to €1.003 billion. In Riyadh, Minister Fajon discussed with Faisal F. Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia, the possibilities and opportunities for strengthening economic cooperation.

"Slovenia and Saudi Arabia have recently concluded an agreement in the field of artificial intelligence between the Jožef Stefan Institute and the International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence and the Saudi Data & AI Authority. There is great interest on both sides to strengthen cooperation in other areas, especially in information and communication technology, artificial intelligence, infrastructure projects, energy, tourism, sport and healthcare," said Minister Fajon after the meeting.

Minister Fajon also stressed that Saudi tourists are warmly welcome in Slovenia and said she was pleased to see that the number of Saudi visitors has increased in recent years.