Chidambaram leaves on a 2-day visit to Saudi Arabia

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today left on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia for a bilateral trade and investment promotion meeting.

Sources said the Minister will be participating in the 10th Joint Commission Meeting on Technical and Economic Cooperation (JCM) at Riyadh.

The Indian delegation, led by Finance Minister, would also include Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

Chidambaram would be back in India on January 29, sources said.

India-Saudi Arabia trade relations have witnessed 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% 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% of India's global exports and is also the source of 6.35 per cent of India's global imports.

India also has a double taxation avoidance treaty with Saudi Arabia.

Several Indian companies have established collaborations with Saudi companies and are working in the Kingdom in the areas of designing, consultancy, financial services and software development.

Saudi Arabia is also emerging as a big investor in India.