Rupee-riyal transactions may soon be a reality along with UPI and Rupay cards in Saudi

20 Sep 2022 , 08:27 AM

According to the commerce ministry on Monday, India and Saudi Arabia have discussed the viability of institutionalizing rupee-riyal transactions and introducing UPI and Rupay cards in the kingdom. Among other topics, these were covered when Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Riyadh from September 18 to 19.

He was present at the Saudi Arabia-India Strategic Partnership Council’s ministerial gathering.

The ministerial meeting of the council’s Committee on Economy and Investments was co-chaired by Goyal and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, the Saudi Minister for Energy.

The Indian minister tweeted, “Discussed how energy security with climate change awareness can achieve economic growth and prosperity.

The 41 areas of collaboration identified by the technical teams under the four major categories of energy, industry and infrastructure, technology and IT, and agriculture and food security were also approved at the ministerial conference.

It also reaffirmed ongoing collaboration in joint projects like the West coast refinery, LNG infrastructure investment, and the construction of strategic petroleum storage facilities in India. It is also committed to taking on the implementation of priority projects in a time-bound way.

The topic of boosting Indian exports and encouraging foreign investment into India was discussed at a CEO Roundtable with industrialists in Saudi Arabia, it was said.

The minister had discussions on a variety of subjects in a separate meeting, including institutional tying up of the two nations’ EXIM banks, cooperative projects in third countries, mutual recognition of standards, and cooperation in infrastructure development.

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