By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: A 20-member business delegation from India held a networking event at the Indian Embassy on Monday, seeking to enhance trade relations between Kuwait and India and explore fresh business opportunities in Kuwait. The event was organized by the Indian Embassy in association with Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC).

The multi-product delegation comprising members from Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) arrived in Kuwait on October 16. The delegation was given a warm reception at the headquarters of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Monday.

"India is Kuwait's fourth commercial partner with the value of trade exchanges between the countries amounting to $2.362 billion last year," said Talal Al-Kharafi, a member of KCCI. Assuring the support of the Chamber to Indian businessmen, he said the two countries have been bonded by historic ties both at economic and trade levels.

"India's exports to Kuwait reached over $1.23 billion in 2021-22. The growth of exports to Kuwait was broad-based and part of the overall achievement of $419 billion of merchandise exports from India in 2021-22, which was a record in itself, a 44 percent growth over 2020-21," said Dr Vinod Gaikwad, First Secretary at the Indian Embassy, while welcoming the delegation on behalf of Indian Ambassador Sibi George.

KUWAIT: The 20-member business delegation from India poses for a group photo at the Indian Embassy.

Pivotal changes

Paresh Kantilal Mehta, the head of the delegation, highlighted the pivotal changes in the business environment in India, pointing out that FIEO has taken a milestone step forward to develop a one-of-its-kind online business portal for Indian business entities across several sectors. FIEO, an apex body of all trade promotion organizations and commodity boards in India, plays a significant role in creating a suitable platform for Indian exporters to showcase and market their products and services globally.

"The delegation to Kuwait is organized under the theme, 'Not Just Building Business, it's all about Creating Relations,' Mehta said during his remarks. "Our meeting at KCCI was very encouraging and positive. My delegates are so happy to be here.  We are looking forward to building good partnerships with our Kuwaiti counterparts," Mehta told Kuwait Times on the sidelines of the event.

"On the trade side, Kuwait has nearly 194 import partners with a combined imports of more than $34 billion of commodities. India has consistently been among the top 10 trading partners of Kuwait," said Kaizar Shakir, Vice President, IBPC. Kuwait's main imports include machinery, mechanical appliances, electrical equipment and electronics (24 percent of total imports); transport equipment (14 percent); base metals and articles thereof (12 percent); chemicals and related products (9 percent) and vegetables (6 percent), he said.

"This delegation is just a beginning. We should have such regular visits of Indian business delegations to Kuwait and to have fruitful interactions with the Kuwaiti businesses. There is a huge potential to double the trade volume between the two friendly countries," Sunit Arora, General Manager, Nexus, FAIQ, told Kuwait Times. A one-on-one business interaction was held following the inaugural session between the FIEO delegates and Kuwaiti businessmen, providing a platform for an effective business networking between the participants for exploring business opportunities.