Hemant Kotalwar, charge d’affaires at the Indian Embassy, inaugurates the Lulu Hypermarkets’ ‘Inspiring India Festival’ in Riyadh.

The two-way trade between Saudi Arabia and India exceeded $39.4 billion last year.

This makes the Kingdom the fourth largest trading partner, said Hemant Kotalwar, charge d’affaires at the Embassy of India here.

He said that this figure clearly indicated the growing Indo-Saudi friendship, which had not only endured the vicissitude of time, but also consolidated and prospered over the years.

Kotalwar, who inaugurated the Lulu Hypermarkets’ Inspiring India Festival, a major food, cultural and lifestyle event on Thursday, said that commercial relations between the Kingdom and India are growing. “Saudi Arabia is a reliable oil supplier besides being a strong commercial partner,” he added.

Referring to the visit of late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah followed by the visit of his successor King Salman, then the crown prince, to India, he said: “The two countries have forged closer ties in the domain of politics, economy and culture.” Saudi Arabia is also a major source of energy as New Delhi currently imports around 20 percent of its domestic crude oil requirements.

Not only this, Saudi Arabia is the fifth largest market in the world for Indian exports and is a destination for more than 3.60 percent of India’s global exports.

On the other hand, the Kingdom ranks atop as it is also the source of 6.3 percent of India’s global imports. To this end, it is important to note that the trade data analysis indicates a trend toward diversification of trade basket between the two countries.

About the whole range of products imported by Lulu Supermarkets from India, Mohammed Shehim Unni, Lulu’s regional director, said: “Our imports range from fabrics, food items, lifestyle accessories to all kinds of groceries, meat and sweets.” All these products have been offered for display and sale during the week-long Inspiring India Festival across the Kingdom,” he added.

“The festival, which continues till Jan. 27, marks India’s 67th republic day,” said Shehim, adding that special offers have been announced on groceries, fresh foods, vegetables, fish and meat from India, along with sweets prepared on the occasion. Also at the garment fair, exotic ranges of sarees, churidars and churidar material have been offered under the Buy 2 Get 1 Free Scheme, including Indian brands like Van Heusen, Peter England, Louis Philippe, Arrow and Allen Solley.

The festival period also features entertainment programs, including live cooking demos and special cultural items. There are a range of Indian cuisine like biryani, chat, sweet, fusion kebabs, street foods, curry, tandoori and other items.

The festival is part of the Lulu Hypermarkets’ continuous initiative to interact with their customers and bring the best of the world to the shoppers in Saudi Arabia.

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