By Abdul Rahman M. Baig
Jeddah: Saudi Indian Business Network (SIBN) Jeddah Chapter hosted the annual iftar with its members to celebrate the spirit of the holy month of Ramzan at the conference hall of the Consulate General of India. The iftar was attended by the Indian Consul General Mohammed Shahid Alam along with a few of the prominent Saudi members of the Jeddah chapter.
In his speech, Mohammed Shahid Alam, the Indian consul general congratulated all the members of the SIBN Jeddah chapter on the holy month of Ramzan, welcomed and thanked them in the annual iftar organized by SIBN. He further said “I hope everyone is enjoying Ramzan very well as the weather is very pleasant this year. I would like to first congratulate SIBN for doing a fantastic job the previous year”.
Addressing the Saudi friends and members present in the SIBN annual iftar, he added that SIBN has organized several business B2B meetings, especially in IT and pharma related. He said, “They are now more focused on key sectors to go beyond and I hope there will more engagements from both sides. As India is hosting the G-20 summit this year and both India and Saudi Arabia are members of G-20 countries, hence we are having a great number of meetings in India right now. Both Saudi Arabia and India are bright spots in the whole world economy where we see changes, progress in the relationship and development in each of the countries”. He further added “In the days to come, there are many opportunities where we can re-evident. I request all the members to support SIBN and I always welcome new ideas and suggestions from you and try to implement them”. He concluded his speech by adding, “I was looking forward to welcome you for today’s iftar at my residence, which is called as “India House”, but due to the dusty weather today, we have moved to the conference hall at the consulate premises. I think today’s weather had some other plan and the invitation at India House is still due. I look forward to welcome you soon at my residence”.
Pradeep Sharma, SIBN General Secretary, delivered the welcome remarks and wished the attendees a happy and blessed Ramzan. He further said that, “As you all know that the purpose of SIBN is to increase the bilateral trade between India and Saudi Arabia, to increase the import and export for Indo-Saudi and investment from both the countries. In this regards, we have been working on different sectors like toys, equipment, machinery, pharmaceuticals, healthcare etc. and this year we have another new sector like renewable energy in line with the national industrial strategy of Saudi Arabia. I request all the members to nominate yourself to any sector, contribute, and add value to the objectives of SIBN”.
SIBN also aims to introduce Indian companies to the vast opportunities that exist in the Kingdom and to aid them in projecting their expertise and strengths in various disciplines for prospective alliances with business and trade organizations operating in Saudi Arabia. It aims to provide a reciprocal interface for business and trade organizations established in Saudi Arabia to explore business opportunities in India.
The master of the ceremony Mohammed Sayeed Uddin Hyder, SIBN treasurer in his opening speech said, “20 beautiful days of Ramzan has gone by in a blink of an hour and tonight we enter the last 10 blessed days of this holy month. At this moment in time when the day of the 20th fast has just ended and with the advent with the eve of the 21st Ramadan, which could the “Night of Power”. I pray to Allah the Almighty to bless us with the endurance of sincere worship as it is last few days and to be among those who stand up on the night of power with faith and accountability and grant us the best of both worlds and may we all find peace, tranquility and prosperity in all aspects of our life as well as our hearts”. He further said “it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the very first SIBN event for this year 2023 – 2024”.
The Iftar party concluded with a sumptuous dinner from the Village restaurant and the event was attended by few members from the Indian consulate and Indian community of Jeddah which included Deepak Yadav, Amjad Shareef, Shahenshah Alam, Feroz Bhat, Mohammed Ayyub Hakeem, Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig, Qamar Saada, Vijay Soni, Dr. Jemshith Ahmed, Noor Uddin Khan, Awais Patni, Shankar and Sheik Khaliq.
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
