India plans to launch a business network to promote trade and commerce, investment, business-to-business interactions and exchanges with Saudi Arabia.
The proposed Saudi-India Business Network (SIBN), which will function in Riyadh and Dammam, would comprise both Indian and Saudi businessmen, entrepreneurs, industrialists and members of business chambers.
The first meeting of the SIBN (Riyadh) is scheduled to take place on September 2, a statement released by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said.
Indian and Saudi companies recruiting Indians have also been invited to join the network.
India-Saudi Arabia trade relations have witnessed a steady and remarkable growth in the last few years. Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner and the bilateral trade stood at $43.19 billion in 2012-13.
Saudi Arabia is also India’s largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for 17 per cent of the country’s requirements, and is one of the major markets in the world for Indian exports.
Saudi Arabia is destination to more than 1.86 per cent of India’s global exports and is also the source of 6.35 per cent of India’s global imports. For Saudi Arabia, India is the fifth largest market for its exports.