Tourism & Hospitality | Sunday 17 May, 2015 7:01 am |

The value of Saudi rice imports to the Kingdom from India grew by 58 percent, reaching $1.19 billion (SR4.46 billion) by the end of 2014, compared to $752.67 million (SR2.82 billion) in 2013, according to Indian Consul General Bawa Syed Mubarak.

Speaking to local media, the Indian diplomat said that Saudi rice imports from India dropped by 1 percent in 2013, due to the emergence of certain obstacles but jumped to record levels in the following year (2014).

"At the global level, Indian rice exports fetched $7.78 billion (SR29.17 billion) in 2014, comprising a growth rate of more than 25 percent in one year, of which the Saudi share exceeded 15.35 percent," Mubarak said.
The diplomat stressed that the Saudi market is considered a key importer of Indian rice worldwide. He noted that rice represented nearly 10 percent of the overall Indian exports to the Kingdom.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached more than $48.62 billion, where Indian exports to the Kingdom amounted to $12.21 billion by the end of 2014 in total, an increase of 12 percent, whereas Saudi exports to India reached $36.40 billion, an increase of 8 percent relative to previous years.