PM’s roundtable interaction with Saudi Business Leaders

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today interacted with 30 Saudi CEOs and Indian business leaders in Riyadh. He described India and Saudi Arabia as old friends, ready to take bold new steps to a golden future.

Emphasizing the strength of ties between the two countries, he recalled King Salman mentioning that he was taught by an Indian teacher.

He said India had a unique combination of democracy, demography and demand, and several policy initiatives had been taken over the last two years to spur growth and progress.

Speaking about the health sector, he said there was tremendous scope for investment in the manufacturing of medical devices. He said India’s health sector which is globally extremely cost competitive, offers immense scope for health tourism. He added that Indian nurses, present in large numbers in the Gulf, are a testament to our well-trained manpower.

He called for taking the economic relationship beyond export and import, to technology transfers and joint investment.

He assured Saudi investors that retrospective taxation was a thing of the past, and his Government believes in a predictable long term taxation regime. He mentioned petroleum, renewable energy, infrastructure, and defence manufacturing, as possible areas for Saudi investment. He said Saudi investment in fertilizers, warehousing, cold chain facilities and agriculture, would be a win-win partnership, as it would ensure good quality food products for Saudi Arabia.

He said India and Saudi Arabia should look at working together in the field of cyber-security.