CII holds business to business meet with Saudi exporters

India is the fifth largest market for Saudi exports accounting for 8.87 percent. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in coordination with the state-run Saudi Exporters Development Authority jointly organized a business-to business (B2B) meeting with an exporters’ delegation from Saudi Arabia in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia which is India’s fourth largest trade partner and a major source of energy, India imports around 20 percent of its crude oil requirements.

A delegation of 25 exporters from the oil-rich kingdom is lead by a senior Saudi government official for the first such B2B organised by CII with Saudi Arabian business, the CII said, adding the areas of interest of the visiting delegation include textiles,agriculture, chemicals food, metals, plastics and spices.

Earlier this month, the Saudi Indian Business Network, along with the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia had organised a B2B meeting for 13 participating company delegates with Saudi businessmen from the health, cosmetic and chemical sectors.

During the last fiscal, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia reached USD 28.2 billion, registering a decline of 22.42 percent over the previous year, whereas exports to Saudi Arabia reached USD 11.2 billion registering a decline of 8.61 percent over the previous year.

The bilateral trade between the two countries reached USD 39.4 billion during 2014-15, registering a decrease of over 18 percent over 2013-14.