Saudi FM to lead 75-member biz delegation to India

Dubai, Jan 14: Saudi Arabian Finance Minister Dr Ibrahim BinAbdulaziz Al-Assaf will lead a 75-member business delegation to Indiafor the two-day Seventh Saudi-Indo Joint Economic Commission Meeting inNew Delhi from January 18-19.

An Indian Embassy official in Riyadh said the two sides willdiscuss economic relations in areas such as Information andCommunication Technology (ICT), energy, up-stream and down-streampetrochemical projects, railway network, infrastructure development inSaudi economic cities and other knowledge-based industries likeeducation and culture.

The Saudi delegation includes 25 government officials and 43 businessmen, 19 among them representing the ICT sector.

Mr Al-Assaf and his counterpart Finance Minister P Chidambaram will jointly chair the economic commission, he said.

On the sidelines of the meeting, businessmen from the two sideswill also hold their joint business council sessions to explore thepossibilities of establishing joint venture projects.

The Saudi delegation will also visit Bangalore and Hyderabad, the IT hubs of India.

The Indian Embassy here is observing the week begining January 25to February 2, to commemorate the first anniversary of King Abdullah'svisit to India besides the 58th Republic Day celebrations.

A spokesman said Indian investors in Saudi Arabia have received108 licences with a projected investment of 466.35 million dollarswhile Saudis have got approval for 49 projects in India worth 228.83million dollars.

The bilateral trade figures in 2005-06 amounted to around 10billion dollars with Indian non-oil exports to Saudi Arabia touching3.4 billion dollars while imports, mostly crude oil from the Kingdom,amounted to 6.5 billion dollars.

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