Doha, Qatar: The Kerala Business Forum (KBF) hosted a ‘curtain raiser’ event for the upcoming KBF Business Connect 2024, which will be held on April 30 and May 1.

The event took place in the presence of the Ambassador of India to Qatar, H E Vipul; KBF President, Aji Kuriakose; Vice President, Kimi Alexander; General Secretary, Manzoor Moideen and other officials from the Indian Business Professional Council (IBPC), yesterday.

Addressing the gathering at the event, the Indian Ambassador noted the excellent ties between the two countries in investments and trade as business forums foster growth and connectivity.

He reiterated that the annual trade volume between Qatar and India is positioned firm with $19bn (QR69.17bn), among which $17bn (QR61.89bn) is the energy exports alone.

Vipul said “Both our economies are growing very strong. India is the fifth largest economy at present and will soon be the third largest. At the same time, Qatar has a strong economy too. They’re looking at further increasing their LNG expansion to almost 140 million tons per annum. And with that, I think there will also be growth in the country including the population itself, as well as the expatriate population will keep coming into the country themselves, and that should mean that between our two countries, there should be much greater possibilities available in terms of business, trade, and investment both in goods and services.”

The envoy praised the business forum’s presence and strength as he remarked that there are over 800,000 people from the Indian state in Qatar, which provides opportunities not merely to Kerala but expanding to 8 more states.

“When businessmen and traders get together, they will discuss all the opportunities available on the investment side,” the Ambassador said adding that numerous expenditures have been carried out in Indian business firms such as Reliance Group.

He also noted that Qatar Investment Authority will be exploring more opportunities for investing in India as the stock market is booming. The official said “There should be very good opportunities for investments both from QIA as well as other family businesses in Qatar, as well as Indians who are living here in Qatar. So I think in terms of the reverse investment, the investments that the Indian community has made, provide a very good environment for us to do that.”

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