“Many companies are looking for joint ventures. Such deals are important for expanding business in India and in Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Rabeeah on the sidelines of the third India-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council meeting in New Delhi.
He was referring to a joint venture deal was reached between Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qahtani Sons Group and Indian firm SledgeHammer Oil Tools to build manufacturing plants for oilfield and drilling equipment in the Gulf nation.
Separately, global petrochemical major Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) said it is planning big investments in India that may run into billions of dollars.
Sabic, which ranks among the world’s top five petrochemical companies, “has been in talks with Indian petrochemical players for a joint venture to tap the huge potential of the Indian market with cracker projects and downstream refineries,” Ahmed Alumar, vice-president, Asia Pacific and member of the board of directors of Sabic Asia-Pacific, was quoted as saying by Indian business daily Business Standard.
Similarly, many companies have started negotiations and are likely to sign joint ventures or memorandums of understanding soon, said Al-Rabeeah, who is heading a 25-member business delegation to India.
“The business and investment data clearly indicate the need for private sector of both countries to engage more deeply,” said Al-Rabeeah. “Saudi Arabia is confident of attracting Indian investment because it is the largest market in West Asia.”
“Saudi Arabia has and will remain very important to India’s long-term business interests in the region,” said Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) secretary-general Amit Mitra. “Apart from meeting 20-25 percent of India’s energy needs, the country is not only home to a large Indian expat community, but is also one of the largest contributors in terms of foreign remittances back to India,” he said.
On his part, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador Faisal Hassan Ahmed Trad said there was an encouraging trend of investment flow between the two countries.
“We do not want only Indian investment in Saudi Arabia but also want to ensure reverse flow of investment. More importantly, we want Saudi investment in India to multiply in all sectors whether industry, mining or energy,” said Trad.
Both the countries are exploring opportunities for collaboration in the oil and petrochemical sector as India-Saudi Arabia bilateral trade increased to $21 billion in 2009-10 from $3.44 billion in 2005-06.
While India’s exports to Saudi Arabia rose to $3.90 billion in 2009-10 from $1.80 billion in 2005-06, major items of Indian exports to Saudi Arabia are petroleum products, basmati rice, non-ferrous metals, machinery and instruments, dyes/intermediary and coal tar chemicals.
India is Saudi Arabia’s fourth largest trading partner and imports about 26 percent of its total crude oil requirement from the Kingdom.
Its imports from Saudi Arabia surged to $17.09 billion in 2009-10 from $1.63 billion in 2005-06. Main items of imports are petroleum products, organic chemicals, artificial resin, plastic and materials.
