Business seminar introduces India’s Kerala as potential destination for Jordanian industries

AMMAN — The Indian embassy held a business seminar on Wednesday titled “Kerala: An Indian destination for business and tourism” at the Jordan Businessmen Association (JBA). 

The seminar was held to encourage Jordanian and Indian businessmen to explore partnerships in new sectors in the Indian state of Kerala. The event also focused on strengthening, enhancing and expanding Jordan-India investment and trade ties.

“India and Jordan’s relationship is more than 70 years old, during which bilateral trade and investment cooperation have been key pillars,” JBA President Hamdi Al Tabaa said during his remarks. 

The JBA aims to connect Jordanian entrepreneurs with Indian businesses, as well as facilitate trade between the two countries, he said.

India’s Ambassador to Jordan Anwar Haleem remarked on the historical linkage between the Arab countries and southern India, as about 4,000 years ago, Harappans travelled on ships along the coast in order to trade with Arab countries. 

“Kerala has a highly skilled workforce, and is a state rich in biodiversity, thriving a research and development culture,” Haleem added. 

Haleem stated that Kerala is among the states with the best startup ecosystem, offering sector-specific industrial parks for industries such as aerospace and defence, electronics manufacturing, food processing, petrochemicals and life sciences. 

The gross state domestic product (GSDP) for Kerala at current prices for the year 2021-2022 was $120.96 billion, which is expected to grow by more than 10 per cent for financial year 2022-2023. 

Furthermore, Kerala’s GSDP recorded a compound annual growth rate of 7.68 per cent between 2015-2016 and 2021-2022. 

The state’s economic growth rate rose to 12.1 per cent in 2022, the highest since 2013, according to a statement from the embassy. 

“Growing bilateral trade between the two countries, which has gone up by a remarkable 60 per cent in last three years, despite the COVID-19 disruptions, is expected to cross $3 billion this year,” Haleem added.