Muscat: The Omani-Indian Joint Committee held a virtual meeting today [October 19] that explored ways to strengthen cooperation and relations between Oman and India.

Various topics concerning economic, trade, investment, and service fields were discussed.

The Omani side was chaired by Qais bin Mohammed al-Yousef, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, while the Indian side was chaired by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

The two sides stressed on the importance of holding such meetings to achieve the goals, implement agreements, and follow up on an ongoing basis.

The committee called on Indian investors to invest in renewable energy, such as wind and solar energy, food security projects, cooperate in the field of space, invest in the tourism and the health sectors, cooperate in the field of information technology, and support small and medium enterprises.

The committee also focused on facilitating the entry of goods into the Sultanate.

The meeting was attended by Asila bint Salim al-Samsami, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion for Investment Promotion, Eng. Ridha bin Juma Al Salih, Chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), and a number of officials from both sides.

It is noteworthy that the Sultanate has a remarkable economic cooperation with the Indian side, registering a growth in Omani exports to India by 0.69 per cent.

The volume of trade exchange between the Sultanate and India has reached more than RO5.93 billion, while Indian exports to the Sultanate have risen by 33 percent in 2019.