Saudi Prince Bin Salman’s aide flies to India to meet business and film kings
The man who stunned the art world with his multi billion dollar buys of some of the priciest paintings of Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yayoi Kusama, David Hockney and Leonardo da Vinci, wants to bind India and Saudi Arabia through commerce and culture, moving beyond oil.
Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed, hand picked by 35-year old Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman or MBS, to create and run his country’s first Ministry of Culture, was in Mumbai this weekend for a below the radar trip, meeting some of the biggest names of corporate India and the film fraternity, said people in the know.
Flying straight from Riyadh to Jamnagar, Prince Badar met Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family. The kingdom and India’s largest business group have shared deep ties for many decades. RIL sources majority of its crude oil from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco CEO Yasir O. Al Rumayan, who is also the governor of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), joined the RIL board last year as an independent director even though Aramco’s plans of buying a fifth of the Ambani flagship did not materialise after intense negotiations spanning over 2 years. PIF also invested Rs 20,922 crore across Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio Platforms.
Reliance, the country’s top exporter, is looking at expanding its retail operations in the Gulf and have set up a trading subsidiary in Abu Dhabi in December focussing on a diverse set of agricultural commodities petroleum,
petro chemicals and crude oil.
“It was a signal that MBS and the Saudi royalty still considers the Ambani family a strategic ally,” said one of person aware of the meetings. “At a business level both are serious about net zero targets, sustainability. Beyond energy, there are overlapping interests in entertainment, sports as well.”
The Saudi delegation also met Tata Group chairman N.Chandrasekaran and Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal at the conglomerate’s headquarters to discuss business opportunities in travel and tourism in Saudi for Taj and Air India. Indian Hotels that operate the Taj hotels have been planning to expand its footprint in Mecca. Vistara and Air India flights to Jeddah, AlUla -- a craggy desert area in the country’s northwest best known for its Petra-like rock tombs that MBS is keen to promote as a big tourism and cultural destination -- and Mecca, especially during the Haj season, were also part of their discussions.
After buying out partner GE, TCS has set up an all women centre and innovation lab in Riyadh providing a platform for young software graduates. The Centre, was a key highlight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in 2016 has since been showcased to several visiting US Presidents.
Saudi Arabia is a key pillar of India’s energy security being a source of 17 per cent of crude and 32 per cent of LPG requirements as per Saudi government estimates of 2019-2020. But the kingdom has been looking at strengthening ties with plans to invest $100 billion across petrochemicals, infrastructure and mining. Close on the heels of its free trade agreement (FTA) with the UAE and Australia, India has also expedited the pace of talks with several partners, including other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to create a raft of “fair and balanced” trade deals and further boost domestic exporters.
“The visit aimed at strengthening cultural ties between the two countries,” the spokesperson of the Saudi ministry said. “The Saudi delegation held a series of meetings with members of the Indian business and film fraternity.”
At a meeting at Jio Centre at Mumbai’s Bandra Kundra Complex, producers and directors Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Raju Hirani, Kabir Khan, Dinesh Vijan, Ashutosh Gowarikar and others discussed commercial opportunities along with senior representatives with MBC Group – a media conglomerate owned by the Saudi government. Prince Badar is also believed to have also spoken to Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on the phone to explore potential alliances in co-content creation opportunities. Attempts to reach Nair did not generate a response.
“The recent cricket movie 83 was premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah in December where Akshay Kumar was also the guest. Culturally, there are various similarities between the two sides and MBS is personally keen to nurture this,” said a Saudi official present.
Such outreach are efforts by the young prince to diversify an oil-dependent economy and liberalise social customs. Till a few years ago, art itself was taboo, as were movie theaters, operas and rock concerts—and now all are becoming common place. Over the last 6 years, since the crown prince’s father King Salman rose to power, Prince Mohammed has ended many social restrictions, but continued to take a hard line against political criticism, running down potential rivals and even arresting dissidents.
Over the next decade, the Saudi government intends to build more than a dozen major art institutions, plus more smaller ones, in hopes of attracting tourists and adding as much as $27 billion to the country’s economy, Fayez had earlier said. The Saudis have previously disclosed plans to build a handful of museums, but has refrained from sharing the scale of their ambitions. The added cultural infrastructure is one part of a broader, estimated $64 billion campaign to overhaul the country’s economy and reputation.
Da Vinci’s painting bought for a record $450 million at a Christie’s auction, is expected to be a centre piece of the country’s art and culture campaign but the kingdom is not overtly keen on focussing too much attention on just one canvas eclipsing the other works they want to showcase, including a strong focus on Saudi culture and Islamic art.
Under MBS, 16 sectors have been highlighted that are to be manned by 11 commissions which are all to be helmed by Prince Badar as the chairman. From film to fashion, culinary arts to literature and translations, museums and libraries, these highlight the key focus areas for the kingdom.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
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