Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Hundreds of business leaders and top company executives from six Gulf states and India will gather at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Rabigh this week to explore the vast opportunities for boosting business ties and tackle potential challenges in drawing investments. The 4th GCC-India Industrial Forum, with the theme of "Opportunities and Challenges" will be held at Bay La Sun Hotel, KAEC on Nov. 18 and 19. The Federation of Gulf Cooperation Council Chambers (FGCCC) is organizing the mega event in cooperation with the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC), Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman are among the speakers at the inaugural session of the forum on Wednesday, Saudi Gazette has learnt from the organizers. The other dignitaries who will attend the opening session include Dr. Abdullatif Al Zayani, secretary general of GCC, Sheikh Kalifa Al-Thani, president of FGCCC, Sheikh Saleh Kamel, chairman of JCCI, Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, chairman of CSC, and Sumit Mazumder, president of CII. The forum is expected to bring about positive results in further enhancing business relations between the GCC states and India, according to Abdulrahim Naqi, secretary general of FGCCC. "We are discussing the entire gamut of business relations and are striving to address all the concerns of businessmen and investors from both the sides so as to give an impetus to the fast growth of bilateral businesses and serving economic interests of all," he said while urging the Gulf and Indian business leaders to take advantage of the forum in tapping the full potential to develop strategic partnership through having more joint ventures and pumping of investments. As GCC has been emerged as a major trade partner for India, the forum set to explore the prospect of tapping GCC's vast potential to become India's major investment partner in future. A strong contingent of business leaders and senior government officials will be coming from India to attend the forum, B.S. Mubarak, consul general of India, told Saudi Gazette. "The 40-member delegation is comprised of senior officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and CII. Many Saudi business leaders and prominent investors are interested in investing in India and they will hold key talks in this respect with their counterparts from India," he said adding that the main areas of interest are IT, food, healthcare, oil and natural gas, and sovereign funds. The first plenary session of the forum titled "Promising investment opportunities in GCC and India" will seek to identify the most promising sectors for investment between India and the GCC and suggest a roadmap to facilitate this process. Abdullah Al-Sheble, assistant secretary general of GCC for economic & development affairs, Ravneet Kaur, joint secretary at India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Adnan Mandorah, secretary general of JCCI will be the speakers at the session, in which Abdulrahim Naqi will be the moderator. There will be brainstorming sessions aimed at building networks of the Gulf and Indian businesswomen as well as enhancing cooperation in the IT and health sectors between the two sides. Dr. Lama Al-Suleiman, vice chairperson of JCCI, will be the moderator at the session on "Cooperation between the GCC and Indian businesswomen communities." Eminent women business leaders — Dr. R Nandini, chairperson of Indian Women Network of Southern Region, & managing director of Chandra Textiles Ltd India, Rajshree Pathy, Chairperson of CII Southern Region and CMD of Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd, and Dr. Fatimah Al-Bulushi, CEO of Capacity Co. of Bahrain will address the session. Muhiyadin Hakami, deputy secretary general of JCCI, will be the moderator in the session titled "Fields of cooperation in information technology and communications," in which the speakers include C.P Gurnani, CEO and managing director of Tech Mahindra, India and Ninad Karpe, managing director & CEO of Aptech Limited, India. The forum will discuss how Indian and GCC companies can work together in the field of healthcare, especially the role of healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in providing quality healthcare. C.Vijaya Baskar, minister of health from Tamil Nadu state of India will moderate the session on "Healthcare/healthcare tourism/pharma," in which several senior executives in healthcare and pharmaceutical sector in GCC and India will speak. There will be separate sessions on "challenges and opportunities in the area of the Gulf Industrial exports to India and vice versa," "food security & agriculture," "oil, gas & renewable energy," and "finance and role of the sovereign funds in financing projects /small and medium enterprises and youth projects."
