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Bilateral Agreements:
The Joint
Commission for Economic, Trade, Scientific, Technical and
Cultural Cooperation (JCM) between India and Saudi Arabia was
established in 1981 held its sixth session in Riyadh on April
12, 2005. Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram led a five
member official delegation and a 19-member business delegation
from FICCI and the Saudi side was led by Minister of Economy &
Planning & Acting Minister of Commerce & Industry, Mr. Khaled M.
Al-Gosaibi. During the visit, a MoU on the establishment of
Joint Business Council between Council of Saudi Chambers of
Commerce & Industry (CSCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce & Industry (FICCI) was signed.
The Indo-Saudi Joint Business Council (JBC) was established in
1997 during the meeting of JCM held at New Delhi. FICCI signed
a fresh MoU to establish the Joint Business Council between the
Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) and
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry during
the 6th Session of the JCM, held in Riyadh on April
12, 2005.
India and Saudi Arabia concluded a Bilateral Accession Agreement
on Saudi Arabia's accession to the WTO on 16 June 2004 at
Geneva. The Agreement included agreed tariff schedules on items
of export interest for India in the Saudi Arabian market as well
as Saudi Arabia's market access commitments in services sectors
of interest to India.
The Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and the
Saudi Arabian Standards Organisation (SASO) have an ongoing
programme of technical cooperation (POC) since June 1993.
National Physical Laboratory has provided expertise and
technology for two important SASO projects related to
calibration and teleclock system.
CSIR and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)
signed a Memorandum of Understanding for bilateral cooperation
in 1997 and have an ongoing programme of cooperation,
particularly in the field of space science, remote sensing and
installation of internet.
During the recent visit of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdul
Aziz Al-Saud the King of Saudi Arabia to India (Jan. 24-27,
2006) both countries signed Bilateral Investment Protection and
Promotion Agreement (BIPPA) and Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA) on 25th January 2006.
The broad intent of BIPPA is to promote and protect investments
from either country under Article 1 “investment” is defined as
every kind of asset including Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
in accordance to the laws and regulations of the country in
which the investment is made. These agreements would provide the
legal and institutional framework for giving a boost to
bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.
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