New
Delhi, Jan 17
Saudi Arabia and India Wednesday agreed to strengthen their
bilateral trade and investment ties, with India offering the Saudi
national oil firm, Saudi Aramco, stakes in three of its upcoming
refineries.
The refineries, at Bina (Madhya Pradesh), Bhatinda (Punjab) and
Paradip (Orissa), are being set up by BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil
Corporation (IOC) respectively.
The offer was made to the Saudi firm during a meeting between
India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora and Saudi Oil
Minister Ali Al-Naimi.
The Saudi minister later ruled out the need for an emergency meeting
of Oil Producing Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries to check the
falling prices of crude while talking to reporters.
"The market doesn't need to panic at all and there is the need to
protect the interests of both the producers and the consumers. The
market is in a healthy condition and moving in the right direction,"
he added.
During the meeting, Saudi Arabia also invited India to invest in the
oil-rich kingdom.
"We are looking for mutual investment opportunities from Saudi
Arabia to India and from India to Saudi Arabia," Al-Naimi later told
reporters on the sidelines of Petrotech 2007.
"We in Saudi Arabia appreciate the support and role of 1.7 million
Indian workers in the kingdom that are supporting our industry and
civil society," he added.
"Saudi Arbaia will provide all support to India's business community
to forge closer partnership in trade and investment between the two
countries," Saudi Commerce and Industry Minister Hashim Bin Abdullah
bin Hashim Al-Yamani said while addressing the second meeting of
India-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council here Wednesday.
"This is a great time for forging a true partnership between the two
countries and our government will provide the business community all
kind of support for this," Al-Yamani said at the meeting, organised
by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
"The relationship between the two countries is improving. There is a
need to improve trade and investment flow by innovative
initiatives," he said.
Addressing the meeting, Habib Khorakiwala, president, FICCI said, he
saw future in collaborations with Saudi Arabia in education, health,
processed plant equipment, petrochemicals, fertilisers,
infrastructure, construction, machine tools, auto components and
pharmaceuticals among other sectors.
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