Jeddah [Saudi Arabia], April 22 (ANI): Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jeddah, Saudi businessman and senior consultant Engineer Hani Kayal expressed enthusiasm about the strengthening of ties between India and Saudi Arabia.

Highlighting the Kingdom's ongoing transformation across various sectors, Kayal emphasised that the visit provides an opportunity to explore new areas of collaboration, particularly in areas like infrastructure, construction, and pharmaceuticals.

While speaking with ANI, Kayal said, 'Well, we are actually very excited about having people come and see what we have because we are moving forward with our plans. The kingdom is evolving in many sectors. So visiting Saudi is something important for anybody who wants to look at new opportunities, see how we can collaborate. Already we are in ties with many kinds of companies in India, working together in many sectors -- construction, infrastructure, pharmaceutical...'

When asked if there are new initiatives expected in the field of technology and innovation between India and Saudi Arabia, particularly in areas like AI, clean and digital infrastructure, Kayal stated, 'For sure, I mean India's reputation in technology is very well and solid, so people like to collaborate and have a knowledge transfer of many Indian calibres and business professionals. So, we have many projects, as everybody knows, happening in the kingdom. And they are all gonna be the latest, smart, technological, and up-to-date technology.'

Asked about the potential for greater collaboration in areas like tech startups, fintech, and smart city development--especially in light of Saudi Vision 2030 and India's Viksit Bharat 2047 roadmap, Kayal expressed optimism and called India as the 'kitchen of startups.'

He told ANI, 'Well, India is the kitchen of startups, so, we are very excited to localise some of the ideas that apply in India to Saudi and vice versa as well. We have a huge collaboration with the tech. I am talking about myself in dealing with companies in India. So, I mean, the future is there.' (ANI)