Ambassador of India, P Kumaran, talking to the media in Doha yesterday. Also seen are Omar Arar (left), DPT General Manager and K M Varghese, IBPN President. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
The Indian Business and Professionals Network (IBPN) yesterday announced holding a stand-alone Indiana Exhibition of Indian products and services in Doha to “take trade relations between two countries to new heights”.
“It will be a-one-of-a-kind exhibition of Indian products in Doha,” said K M Varghese, President of IBPN, while addressing a press conference. The four-day event is slated to be held at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre from March 17- 20, 2017.
P Kumaran, Ambassador of India to Qatar, who was also present at the occasion said that Indiana Exhibition would be first of its kind. “India has been participating in almost all big exhibitions in Qatar but this time it will be a stand-alone Indian exhibition in which as many as 300 manufacturers and service providers will participate,” he added. The ambassador said that it would also be unique due to its business-to-consumer aspect. “Consumers will be able to buy products directly from manufacturers in the exhibition. We are working with Qatar’s customs authorities to devise mechanism on how customs duty will be levied,” he added.
Expressing gratitude to Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) for licensing the exhibition, P Kumaran said that the event would help a lot in enhancing trade relations between the two countries. To a question regarding trade volume between two countries, he said it was around $14-15bn. “Qatar’s exports to India, primarily oil and gas, are about $13bn while India exports various products amounting to about $1bn to Qatar,” he said.
To another question, the ambassador said that as studies of Qatari financial institutions, India’s investments in Qatar stood around $450m. But, he clarified that the investment figure was not absolute.
“With its vast resources from oil and gas revenues, Qatar is being transformed into a vibrant and modern state and we are happy that India with its manufacturing base, world class service industry and state-of-the-art techno innovations is a natural partner in its journey,” the ambassador observed. He further said that there would be road shows in India to increase manufacturers’ participation in the Indiana Exhibition.
Square Exhibitions Management will manage the exhibition along IBPN. “The event is going to be a mix of B2C and B2B segments providing the manufacturers a rare opportunity to reach and sell their products direct to the consumers and at the same time providing a chance to form a trade partnership with local firms for long term benefit,” said Hana El Husseini, the COO of Square Exhibitions Management. The organisers said they were already in various stages of engaging dozens of manufacturers from India in many fields ranging from fabrics to electronics; fashion, arts, crafts, spices, inventions, properties, engineering technology etc.
