Trilateral free trade agreement between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India to bolster economy

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A call has gone out from a former diplomat for the immediate establishment of a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India.

This was stressed by former Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Prof Dr Mohan Kumar, who was speaking yesterday in an online panel discussion hosted by the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (DERASAT).

Also taking part in yesterday’s discussion were prominent Bahraini businessman, researcher and writer Yuosuf Salahuddin; distinguished career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service and the first Indian woman to be appointed Ambassador to a Gulf State Ambassador Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa; retired Indian Diplomat and former Indian Ambassador to the UAE Ambassador Navdeep Suri; KG Baburajan from BKG Holding Co and Dr Omar Ahmed Al Ubaidly, Mahmood Abdulghaffar and Hamad Al Abdulla from DERASAT.

Baburajan highlighted some areas of immense potential for bilateral cooperation between India and Bahrain, such as renewable energy, medical and space technology, construction, finance, education, information technology and tourism. “There are of course many other areas of cooperation possible, such as oil and gas, communication technology, infrastructure, investments, food processing and sports,” said Baburajan.

Dr Kumar said that, should the long-proposed India-GCC FTA be difficult, then the best alternative would be to establish one between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India. “I appeal to Bahrain to find out whether an India-GCC FTA is still feasible; it has been hanging for a long, long time, we have been talking about this for at least a decade,” he said. “If an India-GCC FTA is going to prove difficult, I genuinely think there must be a trilateral arrangement between India, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain,” Dr Kumar added. “I want to treat Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a single economic space. “I understand that they are two very different, very friendly countries, but I am trying to overcome the size aspect. “This is because things are moving between India and Saudi Arabia. I genuinely believe we can have greater economies of scale if we include Bahrain in this.” Dr Kumar went on to list several ways of cooperation that would be of great benefit for all involved parties, such as the establishment of a vaccine manufacturing facility for the GCC in Bahrain. “There is potential for investment in India from Mumtalakat,” he explained. “This should be pursued pronto; we should not delay. “The joint commission has talked about establishing vaccine facilities in Bahrain.

This is a tremendously useful idea. This is not the last pandemic. If financing can be done by Saudi Arabia and India can bring technical know-how and manufacturing know-how to make vaccines in Bahrain for the GCC, this would be a wonderful way of trying to see if we can mix and match our respective advantages and strengths.”

He further spoke about establishing a food park for Bahrain in India, as well as further investment in the oil refining and renewable energy sectors. “The investment of a food park in India will help meet the food security needs of Bahrain,” Dr Kumar said. “It is in the abiding interest of India because we have a number of nationals there and the country is not so big. “The stock on oil and gas, the Saudi Aramco chairman now sits on the board of the Reliance Company in India, and if we can look at trilateral cooperation, of downstream and upstream oil refining and so on, I think it would be of great advantage to the region. “There has been the first meeting of the joint working group on renewable energy. We look forward to the early ratification by Bahrain of the international solar alliance. “Bahrain, like India, is blessed with sunlight throughout the year. This is something we must exploit.

Bahrain has land, and we can have a wonderful solar park, which will be the envy of the Gulf. “This is my dream for Bahrain and it is eminently doable with the technology that is available in India and the funds which are available in Bahrain.” Dr Kumar went on to praise His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for being “the most liberal leader in the entire Gulf”. “This will have a profound impact on the ability of Bahrain to be open-minded when it comes to economics, trade and investment,” Dr Kumar added. “There is no one better than HRH Prince Salman, frankly. He used to be in charge of the Economic Development Board, and he knows the working of economics inside out.”