JEDDAH, 22 November 2007 — India is seeking Saudi investment for its infrastructure, ports, roads, power and airports development. These are among the many areas of concern and we invite the Saudi business community to take advantage of the opportunities by establishing mutually beneficial joint venture projects,” Sushil Jiwarajka, chairman of Mumbai-based Indo-Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industries, told a meeting at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday.
“We are working with the government to strengthen the infrastructure for which an investment of over $450 billion is required over the next five years. Our requirements of foreign investment are particularly large in power, telecom, roads, ports and housing sectors,” he said.
As trade and investment policies are constantly getting liberalized and emerging ambiguities clarified, as in the case of foreign direct investment and special economic zone policies, opportunities are increasing exponentially for Saudi stakeholders in India.
The number of Saudi-India ventures in India and fully Indian owned entities or joint ventures in the Kingdom is growing at a rapid pace. More Indian companies are investing in the Kingdom in oil, gas and petrochemicals, IT, telecommunications, and science and technology.
“The scope for mutually beneficial cooperation is vast. We will be happy to share our capabilities and expertise with the Kingdom in health, IT, small-scale industries and training,” he said, adding that the economies of both countries are undergoing rapid liberalization in the era of globalization.
Trade relations between the two countries go back to several centuries. “We have always been close and important trading partners, At one time our relationship represented the knowledge economy of the day. Traders from the Arabian Peninsula who carried India’s ancient mathematical science far and wide were the knowledge workers of their age,” he said. India is the Kingdom’s fourth largest trading partner and the total bilateral trade has reached $16 billion in 2007. The Kingdom is now the 13th largest market for Indian exports and a source for 5.5 percent of India’s total imports.
India is the fourth largest market for Saudi goods and ranks 10th in the Saudi imports market list. By exporting half a million barrels of oil per day and a total of about 24 million tons annually, the Kingdom meets nearly a quarter of India’s total oil requirements, he added.
He said the Kingdom also offered vast scope of investment and Indian businessmen would seriously consider playing a role in projects coming up in the new cities.
“We hope our bilateral trade can go up to $30 billion in the next five years,” Jiwarajka added.
JCCI Vice Chairman Mazen Batterjee, who personally has business links with India, said businessmen on both sides should regularly interact and explore the investment and trade prospects.
Indian Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed reviewed bilateral relations and said the trade ties in particular were expanding since the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah two years ago. “We under the Saudi India Business Network banner are working on the visit of a Saudi business delegation to India in the first half of 2008,” Dr. Sayeed said.
Some of the 35 members of the delegation had one-to-one meeting with their local counterparts. A catalogue show held on the occasion exhibited information and products of various Indian companies.
The delegation’s visit to Abha and Khamis Mushayt on Nov. 24 has been cancelled due to “unavoidable reasons,” Cyril Tigga, commercial consul at the Consulate General of India, said.