JEDDAH, 26 January 2004 — Saudi Arabia and India are heading for an increase in economic cooperation. The increase comes in the wake of the visits of two high-level Saudi business delegations to India in 2003.
Fahd ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Rajeh, director general of International Economic Relations, headed a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Finance who held talks in September with Indian officials from the ministries of external affairs and finance. Issues discussed related to avoiding double taxation and promoting and protecting investments. The next round of ministerial negotiations will be in Riyadh.
Another delegation of Saudi businessmen, led by Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chairman Abdul Rahman A. Al-Jeraisy, visited New Delhi and Bombay in October. The group consisted of 28 leading businessmen representing various sectors of industry and trade, including computer, IT, telecom, e-commerce, medical instruments, life support services, electrical and office equipment, foodstuffs and food processing industries, textiles, leather, banking, financial services and dates.
An event that preceded the meeting was the visit in September of Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna when the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry sought India’s expertise in boosting the Kingdom’s sector of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Khanna and top officials of JCCI exchanged documents on a joint action plan (JAP) for development of SMEs. The now-formalized JAP envisages cooperation in developing a policy and organizing a framework for the SME sector and seconding Indian experts from various small agencies and financial institutions to the Kingdom. They will identify small enterprises, undertake feasibility studies, organize exhibitions of Indian SME products and projects and exchange sector-specific technology and business delegations, including transfer of technology.
India’s relations with the Gulf are “strong as ever,” claims the Indian diplomatic mission, headed in Riyadh by Ambassador Kamaluddin Ahmed and in Jeddah by Consul General Syed Akbaruddin. At present, Saudi Arabia is India’s 14th largest market and India is the Kingdom’s fifth largest, according to statistics available from the consulate. The Kingdom is the largest source of crude oil for India, supplying 20 percent of the country’s total crude requirements. The bilateral trade totals some $4.04 billion, of which Indian exports account for $808.7 million and imports $3.22 billion. Indian companies have established 58 joint ventures in the Kingdom and the Kingdom has more than 47 in India. During the past three years, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has awarded a number of licenses to Indian companies for establishing joint ventures throughout the Kingdom.
India considers the Kingdom an important economic partner in trade and investment and the upcoming Saudi-India Joint Commission for Economic Trade, Science, Technology and Culture and the Saudi-India Joint business Council meetings are viewed as very important. “The GCC and India are also organizing the first GCC-India Industrial Conference in Bombay from Feb. 17-18. The conference will be attended by ministerial and business delegations from the Kingdom and the rest of the GCC,” says Ambassador Kamaluddin Ahmed.
The GCC is now India’s second largest trading partner after the United States. India offers the GCC opportunities for investment which so far have been largely overlooked. The GCC countries look to India as a market with great potential. As the GCC has now chosen India as a “dialogue partner,” in addition to the United States and the European Union, the conference aims at opening a formal economic dialogue between India and the GCC.
“The GCC-India conference will bring together ministers, senior officials, business delegations and opinion makers from the GCC states and India,” the ambassador said. “We expect this high-level conference to provide a new dimension and added momentum to the already strong economic and commercial relations between the six GCC states and India. It will provide an excellent opportunity for an exchange of views.” The conference will also help both government delegations and business chambers from the GCC to explore new avenues for increasing industrial and commercial cooperation with India, including bilateral links in joint ventures and participation in projects in the two countries.
Six ministerial delegations from the GCC, delegations from the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chambers of Commerce from the six GCC countries, and 150 to 200 businessmen from GCC states are expected to participate in the conference.
India will be represented at the conference by a ministerial delegation and a large number of Indian companies in the manufacturing and services sectors. These include Tata, Reliance, Bajaj, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Ashok Leyland, Eicher Motors, Godrej, Bharat Heavy Electricals, ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, ACC, Ambuja Cement, Grasim, Wockhardt, Ranbaxy labs, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Indian Hotels and Hero Honda. IT companies will include Wipro, Infosys, Satyam and training companies like Aptech and NIIT. ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank will also attend.
As the Haj season is in full swing, reports from Bombay are that obtaining Haj visas has been smooth this year. Between 110,000 and 130,000 Indian pilgrims are expected and 72,000 of these are coming through the Haj Committee of India, a semi-government organization. The other pilgrims are coming through private tour operators.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed is heading a 16-member Indian Haj goodwill delegation, arriving tomorrow. The delegation includes member of Parliament from Kerala E. Ahmed, Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Azam Khan and three women — Dr. Firoza Bano, Shahjan Begum and Nafisa Hussain.