In response to the invitation from the Director General of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies, the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of India Mr. Saleh Mohd Al-Ghamdi participated in the Workshop on Saudi-Indian Relationships organized by the Institute at its premises in Riyadh. The Ambassador attended all sessions of the Workshop and actively participated in the deliberations. He also chaired the session on the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries, where he delivered a speech and responded to many questions put forth by the participants (The text of Ambassador’s speech is given below). The participants included faculty members of Saudi universities, representatives of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and relevant government departments as well as invited Indian guests including a representative of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Charge d’ affaires at the Indian Embassy in the Kingdom and the Bureau Chief of the Arab News in Riyadh.

The Workshop was inaugurated on 1^st April 2008 by Ambassador Saad Alamar, Director General of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies who delivered the Keynote Address. The first session on the political and strategic aspects of the Saudi-Indian relations was chaired by Dr. Sadagah Fadal, member of Alshoura Council. The participants in this important session included delegates from India, professors of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies and representatives of several government departments as well as Ambassador Saleh Al-Ghamdi who, along with the Indian delegates, responded to a number of queries raised by participants. Professor Mushirul Hassan, Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Dr. Girijesh Pant, Director, Gulf Studies Programme at the Centre for West Asian &African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Mr. Arun Patankar, Chief Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry participated in the discussions.

The third session of the workshop was devoted to the cultural and scientific aspects of the relations. Prof Mushirul Hassan, Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University who was the main speaker of the session, elaborated on the growing cooperation between the two friendly countries in the fields of culture, education, training and science. He said that the visit of the Custodian of the Two Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to India in 2006 invigorated and added new dimensions to the historic relations of the two countries that have existed for many centuries. 

Excellencies, distinguished participants and guests…

I am deeply honoured to be among this distinguished gathering today and I thank the Institute of Diplomatic Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Director General Dr. Saad ِAl-Ammar who have organized this maiden workshop on Saudi India relations.

Saudi Arabia and India, as we all know, are two of most important powers in Asia, and they set the agenda in their respective spheres of political and economic influence. The Arabian Peninsula’s relation with the Indian sub-continent is possibly as old as human civilization.

The Kingdom’s relation with India is multi-faceted with both countries sharing a mutual perception on various global and regional issues. This relation rests on firm grounds of trust and cooperation on issues that may be political, economic, social, scientific and other wise.

This growth has been spurred due to the efforts of both governments as well as the cumulative effort of various business houses, business persons, apex business

organizations and even individuals.

The last few years have witnessed a phenomenal exchange between the two countries in terms of business meets and exchange of business delegations.  I must mention that the visit of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques to India during January 2006 and the subsequent signing of Delhi Declaration and several trade agreements, including an Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and an agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation have provided a road map for cooperation between the two countries and propelled Saudi-India relations to new heights.

Trade, Investment and Human Resources are among, inter-alia, three very important pillars on which Saudi-India bilateral relationship rests. Trade and Investment have shown a remarkable growth in the last few years.

A large number of business delegations individual business travellers and road shows have been witnessed, resulting in India’s emergence as one of the kingdom top Trading partners.

The volume of bilateral trade has gone up significantly. During 2006-07, the two-way trade reached over $16 billions. (The percentage of oil and non-oil :- (1.) Saudi Import from India was $2.59 billion, (2.) Saudi Exports to India was $13.38 billion.)

In Saudi Arabia, rules and regulations are being continuously simplified to facilitate trade and commerce. Those relaxed business related laws of the Kingdom offer more transparency and aim to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s global competitiveness. Those include Capital Market Law, The Companies Law, The Agency Law, The Insurance Law, The Mining Law and The Labour Law. With its relaxed business related laws, Saudi Arabia has emerged as an extremely valuable business partner for India.

Taking the advantage of new Saudi Laws, a number of Indian companies, both large and globally known corporate houses and others, have established Joint Venture projects, or wholly owned subsidiaries in sectors dealing with designing, financial services, softwares, manufacturing. As per the latest figures available from SAGIA – the licensing authority for foreign investment in Saudi Arabia – 190 licenses have been issued to Indian companies for establishing Joint Venture or 100 percent Indian-owned companies in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi companies have also reciprocated and taken advantage of the newly introduced Indian liberal economic policies and growing economic opportunity. These Saudi companies have invested in number of projects in last few years. As per the last count there are already 55-60 projects in which Saudi companies have invested in a bigway. To name & few – I may mention, SABIC, Saudi Arabian Amiantit Al-Zamil, Saudi Tele-Communication Company etc. Those Saudi investments make it the 22^nd biggest in India. The latest to the feather of Saudi investment is $30 million investment by Mobily in a wholly owned IT Co. in the city of Bangalore. It plans to increase its investment gradually. Taking into account the investment in both countries, the figure may cross $3 billion.

I must say here that these figures both in terms of trade & investment may not be very accurate. The reasons can be various. The non-availability of correct figures to the data compiling authorities and also the method used by them. Non-availability of accurate datas is often due to the non-transparent method adopted by the business community. It has been observed that business community often does not reveal their so called business secret both in terms of investment, earning and the related areas. There is a strong realization that Saudi Arabia offers enormous trade and investment opportunities to foreign companies and has turned into most attractive destination in the region to set up and run business. I believe it is not the end of the process. Saudi Arabia still needs to be aggressively promoted and marketed. Its economic reforms, sustainable economic growth, great private sector activities, efficiency in the delivery of essential public services are the initiatives, which have created new dynamism in the Saudi economy.

We are all aware of the contribution of the Indian human

resources, to the development of Saudi economy and infrastructure for which we are really grateful. Presently, there are about 1.7 million Indian working in the Kingdom. Remittances by those Indian expatriate working in the Kingdom is estimated to be more than $4 billion annually, a valuable contribution to the Indian foreign reserves. As the economy grows so the employment opportunities. There will be more opening and that will provide more employment for both Saudi & Indian work force.

Having said all this, I must say that this Workshop and this dedicated session will play a path-finding role in the future of Saudi-Indo bilateral relations. I must

 acknowledge here that for the first time ever, there will be a serious and professional effort to record and structure Saudi-India relations, particularly Trade, Investment and Human Resources, and the outcome will provide an invaluable document to researchers, social and economical scientists, analysts so as to provide recommendations and suggestions for all kinds of mutual co-operation.

I feel privileged to have served for the last 5 years as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Republic of India during which I have closely watched and participated in the steady growth of bilateral relations. During these years, I have had many opportunities to personally meet and interact with business persons from both sides, and I am confident that our bilateral relations, particularly in the spheres of trade, investment and human resources, will grow faster than any one would have forecasted. I must thank Dr. Fahd Al-Sultan and others for their co-operation. I believe that both our countries have great potential for supplementing economic activities and to achieve this, the business community of both countries would need to play a very active role. The investment of Private Sector will invigorate the economy of both countries. Intensifying co-operation between the two countries, therefore, remains our main objective. I urge businessmen from Saudi Arabia and India to use the long list of opportunities on both sides and bring Saudi-India trade and investment to greater heights especially given the Saudi support for them which was manifested by the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to India.

Te end I must say that I am happy we have a panel of most eminent speakers, who are authorities in their own right, and I welcome them to enlighten this gathering with their knowledge, experience and ideas.