India Starts Rupee-riyal Trade Talks With Saudi Arabia

Amid union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal's visit to Saudi Arabia, India has started talks with the kingdom for rupee-riyal trade even as the oil-rich nation is committed to investing USD 100 billion in India. 

After participating in the ministerial meeting of the committee on economy and investments of the India-Saudi Arabia strategic partnership council, Goyal on Monday concluded his two-day visit. 

The ministry of commerce and industry in a statement said along with Goyal, the Saudi minister for energy Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud co-chaired the ministerial meeting. 

Goyal met Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi, Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia and held wide-ranging discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral trade, commerce and investments linkages.

During the meeting, both sides discussed the feasibility of institutionalising the Rupee-Riyal trade and the introduction of UPI and Rupay cards in Saudi Arabia, the statement added. 

Diversification and expansion of trade and commerce and removal of trade barriers, including the outstanding issues related to sanitary and phytosanitary measures and trade remedies were among the key points of discussion, the statement added. 

In order to promote the growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in July decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment and settlement of exports and imports in the Indian rupee. 

All exports and imports under this arrangement may be denominated and invoiced in Rupee. The exchange rate between the currencies of the two trading partner countries may be market-determined, the central bank said.

Meanwhile, Goyal tweeted, “Had a fruitful meeting with Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi, Minister of Commerce, KSA. Discussed ways to attract greater investment and further diversify bilateral trade to boost economic ties between India and Saudi Arabia."