PM Modi invites Saudi companies to invest in India

Highlighting the key initiatives taken by the Indian Government to improve the ease of doing business and efforts to relax the Foreign Direct Investment norms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited the Saudi companies to invest in the infrastructure sector in India and to participate in projects like Smart Cities as well as the Digital India and Start up India programmes.

In a joint statement issued after the talks between Prime Minister Modi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, both leaders expressed satisfaction at the growing presence of Indian and Saudi companies in each other's market and agreed to further encourage trade promotion measures and participation in fairs and exhibitions.

They welcomed the meeting of Saudi India Business Council in New Delhi in December 2015 and agreed that Council was a useful platform for furthering trade and economic cooperation.

The two sides conveyed satisfaction at the holding of the 4th India GCC Industrial Forum at King Abdullah Economic City, Jeddah in November 2015.

The Saudi side thanked India for active participation of a large number of Indian companies in the International Fairs and Exhibitions held in Riyadh and Jeddah.

King Salman Bin Abdulaziz lauded the strong growth shown by Indian economy and expressed appreciation for Prime Minister Modi's vision for the future of the country.

He commended Prime Minister Modi's initiatives of "Start Up India", "Make in India", "Smart City", and "Clean India".

Prime Minister Modi encouraged Saudi Aramco, SABIC and other Saudi companies to invest in the infrastructure sector in India.

In response, Saudi Arabia expressed its interest in investing in infrastructure development in India, especially in priority areas such as railways, roads, ports, and shipping.

The Saudi side also welcomed interest of Indian side in investing in the Kingdom, especially taking advantage of the competitive investment opportunities offered by the Saudi economic and Industrial cities.

Both leaders also welcomed the signing of the framework agreement between the General Investment Authority in Saudi Arabia and Invest India aimed at facilitating investments by the private sectors in the two countries.

Keeping in view the importance of energy security as a key pillar of the strategic partnership, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at their growing bilateral trade in the energy sector, acknowledging Saudi Arabia as the largest supplier of crude oil to India.

They also agreed to transform the buyer-seller relationship in the energy-sector to one of deeper partnership focusing on investment and joint ventures in petrochemical complexes, and cooperation in joint exploration in India, Saudi Arabia and in third countries.

The two sides also agreed to focus on areas of training and human resources development and cooperation in research and development in the energy sector. In this regard, the two leaders expressed the need for regular meetings under the umbrella of India-Saudi Arabia Ministerial Energy Dialogue.