A seven member Delegation headed by Mr. Abdulnabi Alshoala, Chairman, Bahrain India Society attended the Arab-India Investment Projects Conclave organized by the FICCI during the period between 18-19 April 2008 in New Delhi.

During the Conclave India called upon Arab countries to utilize investment opportunities available in the country in various sectors and stated that such investments would be warmly welcomed by India. Meanwhile India has also identified 69 projects in areas such as real estate, healthcare, education, and tourism worth over USD 150 billion for investment from Arab countries. The investment proposals were discussed and tied-up at the Conclave.

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of over 100 companies from 13 Arab countries participated in the Conclave. The Conclave had a special focus on various sectors including Agro and Food Processing, Engineering and Construction, Banking, Venture Capital Insurance, Education, IT ITES, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Minerals and Metals, Oil Gas (Upstream and Downstream), Infrastructure- Rail, Road, Airports, Ports, Energy, Water, Communication , Real Estate, Special Economic Zones, Healthcare, Tourism, Manufacturing and Transportation for JVs, technical collaboration and expanding the scale of operations in unexplored markets in both India and in Arab countries.

The participants of the Conclave agreed to organize a series of events and activities over a period of time. An Indo-Arab Festival will be organized in November this year comprising an Indo-Arab Partnership Conference and Arab Cultural Festival which will be organized by FICCI here under the aegis of Indian Ministry of External Affairs.