The Kuwati Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al Hamad Al-Sabah who arrived here on Thursday evening is slated to have a delegation level talks with the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday. The Kuwati Prime Minister will also address a business summit jointly organized by the three apex Indian industry bodies – FICCI, CII and Assocham.

Kuwait hosts the largest expatriate Indian community of 750,000. As recently the expatriate Indians faced problems of deportation due to the Nitaqat law in Saudi Arabia and are facing similar problems in other Gulf countries, India and Kuwait are likely to discuss the issue of social security of Indian workers and if possible sign an agreement.

India gets an annual remittances amounting to $ 70 billion, out of which $ 30 billion is from six rich Gulf countries.

Also the two countries are likely to sign a bilateral agreement on maritime security.

Some Gulf countries have huge sovereign wealth funds – UAE has over $750 billion. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has a fund of $500 billion. Saudi Arabia has a sovereign wealth fund of about $500 billion. Kuwait has a sovereign wealth fund of$ 350 billion which is increasing by $ 25 million every year. That is because the Kuwaitis have decided that for future generations five per cent of the oil revenue will be put into a special fund which is called Fund for Future Generations, which is roughly translating into $ 25 million.

India wants that these rich Gulf countries invest in infrastructure, oil and gas, petrochemical and fertilizer projects or joint ventures in India or both the countries jointly invest in a third country.

Kuwait is investing over a $ 100 billion in terms of refurbishing their oil sector, clean fuel projects. It is setting up new refineries and there are huge opportunities for Indian companies especially for EPC projects. Discussions will also be on the possibility of Indian investments in Kuwait.

India-Kuwait bilateral trade is to the tune of $17 billion. India sources about 10% of its oil imports from Kuwait and wants a sustained level of supply on a long-term basis. With a view to offset the huge forex outgo on account of oil imports, India would seek greater Kuwaiti investment.

India, however, exports food stuff, bovine meat, marine products to Kuwait and is aiming at boosting exports of textiles, electrical equipment, trucks and machinery.

The Kuwaiti Prime Minister will be given a ceremonial reception at the Rastrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace). The Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj will call upon the visiting dignitary.

The Kuwaiti Prime Minister will call upon the Vice President M Hamid Ansari and President Pranab Mukherjee before departing for Agra on Sunday.