A statement from the office of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the chief minister received an assurance in this regard from the Kingdom's acting ambassador to New Delhi, Saghr Suleiman H. Al-Qureshi, who met him in his chamber here Tuesday.

The ambassador had also reportedly made a similar announcement in Hyderabad to open a consulate in the state capital of Andhra Pradesh, which also supplies a large number of work force to the Kingdom.

"Al-Qureshi said the opening of a consulate in the state capital is under active consideration of the Saudi authorities," the statement from the CMO said, adding that a number of issues pertaining to the recruits from the state came under discussions during the meeting.

The UAE ambassador to India Mohammed Sultan Abdallah Al Owais had also called on the chief minister recently expressing his country's wish to open a consulate in the state, the second after Mumbai, the country's commercial hub.

Presently, Maldives is the only country that has a consulate functioning in the state capital. The move by two influential countries is likely to encourage others follow suit.

The ambassador told the chief minister that the Kingdom would recruit workers through the Norka-ROOTS, the field agency of the state's Nonresident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) Ministry. The Norka-ROOTS will also issue identity cards to the jobseekers to avoid delay attestation of academic certificates by the Saudi consulate. 

The ambassador also informed the chief minister that the state-owned Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producing company, is interested in import of goods from India. The chief minister said a delegation from the state would soon visit the Kingdom to explore the possibility of exports from the state.

Reports from Hyderabad said the Saudi Embassy would soon start issuing multiple entry-exit visas valid for a year to Indian businessmen within a day to promote two-way trade.