JEDDAH, 31 August 2004 — The Saudi economy is poised for a giant leap. The Kingdom is determined to develop and diversify its economy to meet the challenges of the coming decades and its policies are based on the principles of comprehensive social welfare and a free market economy, according to Saudi ambassador in India, Saleh Mohamed Al-Ghamdi.
“The year 2003-04 has seen a major improvement in the Kingdom’s economic environment,” Al-Ghamdi said in an address while inaugurating a joint meeting of the Gulf Council and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi over the weekend.
The Kingdom’s policy aims to increase the contribution of the private sector and expand its contribution to the national economy and also to the program of privatization. The Kingdom is also keen to develop the private sector to facilitate its active participation in production and investment activities, said the ambassador. The council made available excerpts from his address to Arab News yesterday.
“Corporate taxes have been removed and various incentives are available to the manufacturing companies including allocation of land for location of industries at normal rent in industrial cities, duty-free imports of raw material and equipment, carry forward of losses, sponsoring by licensed firms of foreign investors, employment of non-Saudis and free repatriation of capital and profits,” Al-Ghamdi said.
The ambassador assured that the Kingdom had a direct interest in developing strong commercial and economic links with India. “The Kingdom is proud to be the major supplier of oil to India and the source of energy will remain steady and stable,” he said, adding that the Kingdom’s endeavor is for stability in the oil prices in the range of $25 to $30 a barrel.
The CII Gulf Council has identified, as priority, participation by Indian companies in various projects in the Kingdom and the rest of the GCC and focus on emerging areas like medical tourism, information technology, IT enabled services, business process outsourcing and infrastructure development.
The council is organizing procurement facilitation meetings between agencies in the Kingdom and Indian companies and promote a two-way investment plan with the support of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.
The council will also launch various initiatives to implement the decisions taken at the GCC-India Industrial Conference held in Bombay earlier this year, and on the basis of the GCC-India Framework Agreement that was signed in New Delhi on Aug. 25. In this regard, CII proposes to work very closely with the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Riyadh, Jeddah and Eastern Province Chambers of Commerce and Industry. “CII will seek advice and guidelines from Minister of Commerce & Industry Dr. Hashim Yamani, Al-Ghamdi and the Indian mission in the Kingdom, as well as the ministries of external affairs and commerce in India,” Arun Patankar said on behalf of the council.
CII Gulf Council Chairman M.A. Pathan, who is also resident group director of Tatas, underlined the efforts of Al-Ghamdi to create and strengthen strong bilateral business ties.