NEW DELHI, 14 October 2003 — A Saudi delegation, headed by Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Jeraisy Group of Companies, is in India to meet industrialists and businessmen and explore commercial ventures and possibilities. In addition to New Delhi, the delegation will visit Bombay and Hyderabad where they will meet business and industrial leaders.
During an interview with Arab News, the Kingdom’s ambassador to India, Saleh Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, said, “We favor the movement of businessmen from both sides to build stronger relations and to explore new areas of cooperation.” Asserting the economic importance of existing Saudi-India relations, Al-Jeraisy told Arab News, “We are an important partner for India. Apart from being the largest market in the Middle East, there are 1.4 million Indians working in Saudi Arabia.” Describing Saudi Arabia as a “powerful, purchasing country,” Al-Jeraisy stressed the opportunities available for investment in the industrial sector.
Elaborating on the sudden upswing in the two nations’ economic relations, an Indian businessman said, “Earlier, there was a tendency for Saudi Arabia to give greater importance to the West. But now, it is looking toward India.” Acknowledging that previously “the quality of Indian goods was suspect,” he said, “Now, we give greater importance to manufactured value-added goods. Since the 1990s, India has made great progress. And over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has also felt the need to give greater importance to developing economic cooperation with India.”
When asked what the most significant aspect in Saudi Arabia”s economic ties with India was, Chairman of CII Gulf Council and Director of Tata Services Limited M.A. Pathan told Arab News, “We are now talking about the non-petroleum sector.” He cited the example of Tata Motors trade having increased in Saudi Arabia from $2.5 million last year to $6 million this year.
At present, while Saudi Arabia is the 14th largest market for Indian goods and India is the 5th largest market for Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is the largest source of crude oil to India, supplying 20 percent of the country’s total requirements.
Total Saudi-India bilateral trade is approximately $4.03 billion, of which Indian exports account for $808.7 million and imports $3223.4 million.
Imports from Saudi Arabia include petroleum and petrochemical products. Indian exports include rice, tea, man-made yarn, fabrics, cosmetics, primary and semi-finished iron and steel, chemicals, plastic and linoleum products, machinery and instruments. Bilateral trade during 2001 increased some 7.24 percent over the previous year. While Indian companies have established 58 joint ventures in Saudi Arabia, there are more than 47 joint ventures in India.