On the eve of the seventh round of Saudi-India Joint Commission meetings to be held in India 18-19^th January 2007, the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of India Mr. Saleh Mohd.Al-Ghamdi held a press conference at the Embassy premises which was attended by a host of reporters representing leading newspapers and a number of television channels.

During the press conference, the Ambassador reviewed the progress of bilateral relations in economic, commercial and investment fields and the achievements made since the last session of the Joint Commission held in Riyadh in 2005. He explained in detail the  unprecedented growth of bilateral relations in all fields after the historic visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud to India last year. The Ambassador said that the current visit of India by both the Minister of Commerce and Industry H.E. Dr. Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, who is leading the Saudi delegation to the Joint Commission meetings, and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources H.E. Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi demonstrate the extent of the growth of bilateral relations.

The Ambassador told the media persons that 50 Saudi businessmen representing various sectors including information technology are accompanying the Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry for meetings with their Indian counterparts. During their visit, the second meeting of the Saudi-India Joint Business Council will also be held which is co-chaired by Dr. Abdul Rehman Al-Rabia from Saudi side. The Ambassador also talked of the

various investment opportunities available for foreign investment in Saudi Arabia and invited the Indian investors to take advantage of excellent environment, security and facilitates provided to the foreign investors in the Kingdom. He pointed out that the volume of investments between the two countries has soared in recent months surpassing $ one billion in each side. The volume of bilateral trade has also gone up to record levels reaching US$ 10 billion.

The Ambassador said that the process of developing the bilateral relations in all fields is guided and supported by the wise leadership of the two countries represented by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The Ambassador also pointed out to the positive role being played by the large Indian community in Saudi Arabia praising their contribution to the development programmes of the Kingdom which is greatly appreciated by the Saudi society.