By Mir Mohsin Ali

RIYADH — Embassy of India, Riyadh organized an interactive session for the members of the Saudi-India Business Council at Hotel Intercontinental, Riyadh. The session was organized in the backdrop of growing bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the field of trade and investment.

Ambassador Ahmad Javed made a presentation on the topic ‘India-Saudi Arabia Shared Future’. The ambassador highlighted the multiple facets of the resilient Indian economy and the recent structural reforms adopted by the Indian government. He also pointed out that India’s ranking in World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report has climbed 42 places to position itself at 100th rank.

The Ambassador also underscored that the Indian economy is growing more than 7 % over the recent years and would continue to grow at the same rate through the next decade. He pointed out that the India-Saudi Arabia bilateral relations are on upswing following the historic visit of Premier Narendra Modi to the Kingdom in April, 2016 and noted that India’s participation at the Saudi National Heritage and Culture Festival at Janadriyah as ‘Guest of Honor’ was widely appreciated by the Saudi Nationals.

Javed stressed on the need to further deepen and diversify the existing trade relations beyond the traditional oil sector into newer areas of Mining, Renewable Energy, Textiles, Automobiles, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Food & Food processing, defense, tourism, entertainment etc. He emphasized that the ambitious ‘Vision 2030’ of the Kingdom could be dovetailed with the Indian flagship programs to enable a sustainable development and a shared prosperity for both the countries.

Saudi-India Business Council (SIBC) Chairman Kamel Al Munajjed also reiterated that India is a major trading partner to the Kingdom and the bilateral relations has further strengthened in the recent years due to the favorable policies from both the sides.

Dr. Abdulrahman Al Rabiah, member of SIBC, pointed out that India could be a valuable partner in skilling of Saudi youths, technical education and vocational training. He also noted that food security is another aspect where both the countries could work together.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India share centuries old economic and sociocultural ties. Economic ties constitute an important element of the India Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership.

Saudi Arabia today is India’s 4th largest trade partner (after China, USA and UAE) and is a major source of energy as India imports around 19% of crude oil from the Kingdom.

The value of Indo-Saudi bilateral trade during 2016-17 was $25.079 billion. During this period, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia reached $19.94 billion, whereas our exports to Saudi Arabia reached $5.13 billion. Saudi Arabia is the 8th largest market in the world for Indian exports and is destination to more than 1.86% (2016-17) of India’s global exports. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is the 3rd largest source of imports, constituting 5.19% (2016-17) of India’s global imports.

Saudi businessmen, Deputy Chief of Mission Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan and Second Secretary Dr. Rambabu were also present at the event.