Chidambaram visits Saudi, to hold talks to boost trade ties

Visiting Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram will hold ministerial-level business talks with Saudi minister Taqfiq Al-Rabia to boost bilateral investment and trade.
Chidambaram, who arrived here today on a two-day official visit, will hold discussions within the framework of the Indo-Saudi Joint Commission, a source said.
The Indian side includes Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram and 10 other senior officials.
On the behalf of Saudi Arabia, Taqfiq Al-Rabia, Minister of Commerce and Industry, will co-chair the Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).
"Saudi and Indian companies have evinced a keen interest to forge closer trade and investment relations, and the visit of Chidambaram will give a major boost to this joint move," Sibi George, deputy chief of the Riyadh-based Indian diplomatic mission, said.

India "can attract more Saudi investments because of the growing Saudi confidence and trust in the business environment," he added.

A statement released by the Indian embassy here said the Finance Minister will co-chair the 10th session of the Saudi-India JCM scheduled for Tuesday at the Council of Saudi Chambers here.
The two sides are expected to discuss various issues of economic and commercial interests including increasing exchange of business delegations, trade facilitation, cooperation between educational institutes and sharing expertise in science and technology.
Indo-Saudi economic relations have shown three-fold increase in the last five years.