JEDDAH, 28 September 2003 — Expansion plans of the Kingdom’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector were articulated at a meeting between the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a visiting nine-member Indian delegation of manufacturer and exporters yesterday.
“We presented specific proposals to initiate joint venture projects during our meeting with Saoud Ounallah, acting secretary general at the JCCI,” R.D. Sharma, leader of the delegation told reporters.
“In fact, we presented proposals related to establishing joint venture engineering plants across India due to the abundance of raw materials and availability of technology and cheap labor,” said Sharma.
The delegation acquainted the meeting with proposals to start turnkey projects related to the manufacture of flour mills and millstones, auto rubber parts, die forging and forge machine components, electric power equipment accessories and parts and hydraulic presses.
“While members of the Riyadh and Dammam chambers were keen on establishing ventures in the Kingdom jointly with their Indian counterparts, members at the Jeddah chamber were additionally interested in investing in joint venture plants in India,” A.A. Kazmi, assistant director of the New Delhi-based Engineering Export Promotion Council, said.
Engineering products currently exported to the Kingdom include primary iron and steel, ferrous hollowware, steel pipes and tubes, aluminum products, industrial machinery and electric power equipment.
