New Delhi, Jan 29 (KNN) India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to step up cooperation in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector for which a joint task force may be established.
The issue came up for discussion at the meeting of India and Saudi Arabia Joint Commission which concluded at Riyadh yesterday. The Indian side was represented by a delegation headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
“During the Joint Commission Meeting,…both sides decided to explore the possibility of setting up of a Business SME Task Force to come up with concrete suggestions to promote SME cooperation, an official release from the Finance Ministry said.
They also reviewed the progress in various sectors including Trade and Investment; Pharmaceuticals, Higher Education; Tourism and Media and Culture; Textiles, Engineering Affairs; Agriculture Research and SMEs etc.
India also invited investment from the oil rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its ambitious projects including Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC); OpaL Petrochemical Complex, Gujarat; Petrochemical Complex at Mangalore, Karnataka; IOCL’s LNG Project at Ennore, Tamil Nadu; Paradip Refinery/ Petrochemical Project of IOCL at Paradip; and Kochi Petrochemical Project of BPCL.
The Joint Commission meeting also agreed on participation of Indian pharmaceutical entities in Saudi Arabia. Discussions also took place on the mandatory requirement to get classification for Indian companies to make them eligible to participate in Saudi projects.