BOMBAY, 18 February 2004 — India and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday signed a landmark trade agreement in an effort to reinvigorate their historic ties.
The Confederation of Indian Industry and the GCC — representing Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — signed the agreement to try to increase two-way trade.
“We want to boost trade between the two regions and not just depend on trade with the developed nations,” said Indian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the first ever India-GCC Industrial Conference in India’s financial hub, attended by ministers of the six Gulf states.
Led by Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry Hashim Yamani, around 150 GCC delegates are participating in the two-day conference.
Jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the theme of the conference is “Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century.”
Yamani, who heads a nine-member delegation from the Kingdom, told the conference he was optimistic about developing trade relations between the regions.
Jaitley said: “India offers tremendous opportunities for Gulf companies, especially because of age-old links between the two sides.”
UAE Minister of Finance Mohammed Khalfan ibn Kharbash highlighted Indian know-how.” The Gulf can look to India for expertise in areas such as information technology, entertainment and healthcare to begin with,” he said.
“We already have ventures in the oil sector with India. It can be taken further to these areas and even in outsourcing,” the UAE minister said, adding the two regions could also set up a free trade zone.
Confederation of Indian Industry President Anand Mahindra said: “The two trade blocks can change the economic geography of the world, and we need not depend for trade only on the US.”
He added Indian companies could also seek outsourcing contracts from the Gulf amid attempts in the West to halt the migration of jobs overseas.
“At a time when you have the West objecting to such contracts, the Gulf can be a good opportunity,” Mahindra said.
