 "India, Saudi to boost cooperation in petrochemical, mining sectors")
India and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday discussed ways to enhance cooperation in areas of fertilizers, petrochemicals, and mining to boost trade and investments.
These sectors were discussed during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Saudi Minister for Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef in Riyadh.
Goyal is in Riyadh on an official visit.
"We further deliberated and explored potential areas for cooperation in the fertilizers, petrochemicals, and mining sectors," Goyal said in a post on a social media platform.
Goyal also held bilateral talks with Khalid Al Falih, Minister of Investment, Saudi Arabia.
"We engaged in insightful discussions on facilitating investments and explored significant opportunities for collaboration across sectors such as pharmaceuticals, automobiles and petrochemicals," he said.
The minister also inaugurated the 'Lulu Wali Diwali' at the Lulu Hypermarket.
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"From the Apple orchards of Ladakh to the markets of Riyadh! For the first time, Saudi Arabia gets to taste these exotic home-grown delights," he said on X.
India is the second largest trade partner for Saudi Arabia whereas Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trading partner.
The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 43 billion in 2023-24 as against USD 53 billion in 2022-23. Over 2,700 Indian companies are registered as joint ventures/wholly-owned entities, with investments worth about USD 2 billion in the Kingdom.
Major Indian companies and corporate groups, including L&T, Tata, Wipro, TCS, TCIL, and Shapoorji & Pallonji, have established their strong presence in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi's direct investments in India amounted to USD 3.22 billion during April 2000 to June 2024.
Major Saudi investment groups include ARAMCO, SABIC, ZAMIL, E-holidays, and Al Batterjee Group.