A group photo of the Saudi Indian Business Network officials along with the keynote speakers and Saudi and Indian businessmen at the meeting in Crowne Plaza on Friday. — SG photo by Hassan Cheruppa Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — The period of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a golden era for further enhancing bilateral trade relations and spurring strategic partnerships to greater heights, speakers at the annual general meeting of Saudi Indian Business Network (SIBN) said Friday. They called for exploring the huge potential for investment opportunities available in both countries. B.S. Mubarak, consul general of India, presided over the function. Bander Ahmed Allaf, CEO of Juffali Energy Company, and Zafar Sareshwala, chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University were the keynote speakers. In his presentation on “Make in India,” Mubarak spoke about India's giant leaps to become a key global manufacturing hub. As a major hub for export to outside world, India is now exporting over 50 percent of its products to more than 100 countries. He also invited Saudi investors and businessmen to take advantage of the investment opportunities in India. “Being a country that makes up one fifth of humanity and fast growing economy, India has opened up almost all sectors, including the key defense, railway, and construction sectors for foreign direct investment (FDI). Moreover, Indian government has identified 25 major sectors for investments, and hence Saudi investors can invest in these vital sectors, especially agriculture and food processing, medical tourism, steel, oil and gas, construction, leather, IT, renewable energy, and space technology.” He further said Modi government has further simplified the procedures for investors, in addition to introducing new laws to attract investors. “India has become leading producer of many agricultural goods, including rice and wheat. Saudi investors can export their products from India after making investments there,” he added. Allaf highlighted the significance of relying more on clean and green energy in the highly polluted world. He called for utilizing big potential for solar energy. “Huge amount of energy could be saved through relying on solar and other renewable energies. These are highly economical and have the potential to create jobs for large number of people in addition to preserving the air and nature clean and green.” He underscored the need for cutting dependence on costly electricity production and consumption. “The cost for production of electricity is very high comparing to production of solar energy. In the Kingdom, average consumption of electricity is 2.7 times higher than that of the world consumption. About 1.4 million barrels of oil can be saved if 100 megawatts of solar panels were installed,” he said. Sareshwala, who is also director of Parsoli Motor India, said there have been lot of synergies between India and the Kingdom for large scale trade and commercial relations that date back to the time of the Prophet. He noted that India's inherent strength relies mainly on the huge pool of human resources and vast natural resources, which are yet to be tapped to the optimum level. Sareshwala invited Saudi investors to take the golden opportunity of making investments in India. He called for backing Prime Minister Modi in his bid to make India a global manufacturing hub in the pattern of vibrant Gujarat where he served as chief minister for nearly one and a half decades. “This is the best time to invest in India. Islamic Shariah compliant investment opportunities in major sectors, including oil and gas are open in front of investors. PM Modi is keen to further enhance bilateral trade relations with the Kingdom and other countries in the region to where India makes trade to the tune of 65 percent of India's total volume of trade. Muhammad Alungal, vice president of SIBN, said the visit of the late King Abdullah to India marked a new era of enhanced bilateral relations and that eventually elevated to new heights of strategic partnership. “We hope the relations would further improve under the period of King Salman and Modi. SIBN can play a vital role in further improving these relations by attracting investors to both countries,” he noted. Deputy Consul General and Consul of Haj Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh presented a memento to Zafar and S.R.H. Fahmi, consul commerce, handed memento to Allaf.
