Goyal to visit Saudi Arabia for ministerial meet of economic, investments committee

NEW DELHI: India and Saudi Arabia are expected to formulate a plan of action for strengthening bilateral cooperation in different areas and projects, including the west coast refinery project, an official statement said on Saturday.

The issue will come up during the meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman on September 18-19.

They would co-chair the inaugural ministerial meeting of the Economic and Investments Committee.

The two ministers are expected to discuss the progress made under the various joint working groups of the economic and investment committee, the commerce ministry said.

"Both sides are expected to formulate plan of action for further strengthening bilateral cooperation in an array of priority areas and projects, including the West Coast Refinery Project, Trans-ocean grid connectivity, Green Hydrogen, Food security, energy security and pharmaceuticals," it said.

They may also accelerate progress on the announcement made by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, during his visit to India in February 2019, of investments worth $100 billion in India, it added.

This committee, it said, is one of the two ministerial verticals established under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, which is headed at the highest level by the Prime Minister of India and the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

India is the second largest trade partner of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trade partner.

India's imports from Saudi Arabia stood at $34 billion in 2021-22, while exports are aggregated at $8.8 billion.