IANS | 19 Sep, 2022
Union
Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal visited Saudi Arabia from
18th to 19th September 2022 to attend the
Ministerial meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership
Council.
Along with Goyal, Saudi Minister for Energy, His Royal
Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud co-chaired the Ministerial
meeting of the Committee on Economy and Investments of the India-Saudi
Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
The
Strategic Partnership Council was instituted in October, 2019 during
the visit of the Prime Minister of India to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
and has two main pillars i.e. Political, Security, Social and Cultural
Committee and the Committee on Economy and Investments.
The notable outcomes of the Ministerial Meeting are:
Streamlining
efforts to realize the announcement made by His Royal Highness Crown
Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, during his visit to India in February 2019,
of investments worth USD 100 Billion in India.
Endorsement
of the 41 areas of cooperation identified by the technical teams under
the 4 broad domains of Agriculture & Food Security; Energy;
Technology & IT; and Industry & Infrastructure.
Agreement to undertake implementation of the priority projects in a time bound manner. Priority areas of cooperation include:
Collaboration in digital fintech sector through operationalization of UPI and Rupay Card in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Re-affirmation of continued cooperation in joint projects including the
West coast refinery, LNG infrastructure investment and development of
strategic petroleum storage facilities in India
During
the visit, the Minister met H.E. Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi,
Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, and held wide ranging discussions
on the entire gamut of bilateral trade, commerce and investments
linkages.
Diversification
and expansion of trade and commerce, removal of trade barriers,
including the outstanding issues related to sanitary and phytosanitary
measures and trade remedies, automatic registration and marketing
authorization of Indian pharma products in Saudi Arabia, feasibility of
institutionalizing Rupee-Riyal trade, introduction of UPI and Rupay
cards in Saudi Arabia; were amongst the key points of discussion.
“Had
a fruitful meeting with H.E. Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi,
Minister of Commerce, KSA. Discussed ways to attract greater investment
& further diversify bilateral trade to boost economic ties between
India & Saudi Arabia”, the Minister tweeted after the meeting.
