India, S. Arabia to promote small and medium industry

Thursday, 10 October 2002, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Two Saudi Arabian delegations will arrive here to study India's experience in developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and jointly promote this sector to access global markets. The delegations will be drawn from the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) statement here Wednesday. This is part of a follow-up to the talks held by Minister of State for Small Scale Industries Vasundhara Raje with Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki Al-Saud, governor of SAGIA, and Hussein Al-Athel, secretary general of RCCI, in Riyadh and Jeddah during October 4-8. The minister's official team was accompanied by a CII trade delegation. "Saudi Arabia has been identified as a potential destination for Indian SMEs and CII plans to facilitate them compete globally in the Arab turf," the CII said. During her presentation at Riyadh, Raje highlighted the problems faced by the SMEs in marketing products overseas. A survey by the SME Development Council (SMEDEC), based on 60 existing SMEs in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, has revealed that over 75 percent of the enterprises faced problems in marketing overseas. Correlating this with the Indian experience, Raje said in the era of globalisation the SMEs too would have to adopt a global focus and look beyond national borders. Saudi Arabian companies showed interest in collaborating with Indian firms for technology transfers, turnkey projects and marketing and trading tie-ups, said K.K.M. Kutty, co-chairman of CII southern region. "A few Indian delegates even managed to finalise deals by the end of their first business meet in Riyadh," he said. During the visit Raje held talks with Saudi Minister of Industry and Electricity Hashim bin Abdullah bin Hashim Al-Yamani and Commerce Minister Osama Ibn Jaafar Faqih. IT and biotechnology were identified as major areas where India could collaborate with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is India's 14th largest export market and a major source of crude oil imports. Bilateral trade in 2000-2001 totaled $4.04 billion.
Source: IANS
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