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NEW DELHI: Indian hotel suppliers are planning to display their products at a supplies expo in Jeddah in December, as they seek to enter the growing Saudi hospitality market. 

The Saudi port city is hosting the 2025 Hotel and Restaurant Supplies Expo from Dec. 9-11. This will be the seventh edition of the exhibition, which connects international suppliers with hospitality players in the Kingdom. 

For the first time, the event will feature a “Made in India” showcase to highlight India’s role as a “rapidly emerging” and “go-to” sourcing hub for the global hospitality sector. 

“We are expecting high interest from Indian manufacturers to enter the Saudi market as India has the best quality with the manufacturing (of) hospitality (products),” Zeinab Ayoub, marketing manager of Jeddah-based exhibition organizer Wehdat Al-Ertikaz, told Arab News. 

Ayoub attended at the International Hospitality Expo in the Indian city of Greater Noida this week to encourage potential Indian suppliers to join the Jeddah expo in December. 

“Lots of exhibitors are interested to join the exhibition because they want to enter the Saudi market. For most of them it is the first time to enter ������Ƶ, so this is an opportunity,” she said. 

“We have met lots of exhibitors from different categories; mattresses, F&B, horeca (hotels, restaurants, cafes) suppliers, tableware, textiles, hotel amenities.” 

Indian manufacturers see the Jeddah event as their opportunity to enter the Saudi market, especially after businesses from the Kingdom and the wider Gulf region showed interest for their products at the event in Noida. 

“If we get an opportunity to work with the Saudi people we will love to do that. We have got few clients, few enquiries from the Saudi people. There is another show that is happening in Jeddah and we are definitely going to participate in that show,” Pawan Kumar Verma, owner of 17 Nakshtra Art Works manufacturer, told Arab News. 

“Saudi is a big market, it’s a big lucrative market. Definitely we will look forward to seeing that market and we are very keen to work with the Saudi people … there are new hotels, upcoming hotels. So we will have good opportunities out there.” 

Under Vision 2030, ������Ƶ aims to develop the tourism industry — its second largest after oil — to make the Kingdom one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the world. 

The government’s strategy appears to focus on building high-end properties, with global real estate consultancy Knight Frank expecting more than 58,000 new hotel rooms developed in the next five years. 

Yash Nagpal, owner of a mirror manufacturing company, sees the Saudi pivot to upscale properties as an opportunity for his products. 

“������Ƶ has taken a lot of initiative towards tourism and all that. It is good to see a country improving in terms of tourism. It is helping us also that the hospitality industry is growing,” he told Arab News. 

“From the past few years it has been one of the main markets for Indian business exports … I would like to work with ������Ƶ, even with the mirrors, we have a luxury feel, so (in line) with the ������Ƶn vibes.” 

Navneet Kamra, owner of Delhi-based Iris Hotel Craft, also sees the Saudi market as key to his business growth. 

“������Ƶ is a good country, they are expanding. It’s a bigger opportunity for us. There is a huge demand in the coming years and we can fulfil,” he told Arab News. 

“Saudis are growing so we can also grow with them.” 

MOSCOW: Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were “useful and constructive,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday.

Witkoff held around three hours of talks with Putin in the Kremlin, two days before the expiry of a deadline set by President Donald Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions.

Ushakov told Russian news outlet Zvezda that the two sides discussed the conflict in Ukraine and the potential for improving US-Russia relations. He said Moscow had received certain “signals” from Trump and had sent messages in return.