Trade ties between India and Oman have grown exponentially in the last five years and bilateral trade between the two sides touched $ 4.5 billion between April, 2009, to March, 2010, a senior Indian diplomat has said.

"India is the second-best market destination for Oman's non-oil exports, while India is fourth largest destination of re-export and also the fourth largest source of imports for Oman. Growth in bilateral commercial relations has brought the two countries even closer and today it is estimated that 1,537 India-Oman joint ventures with an investment of $ 7.5 billion are in place," Anil Wadhwa, India's Ambassador to Oman, said.

Wadhwa was addressing a seminar on the opportunities of doing business with India and bilateral economic and commercial relations between the two countries.

"These commercial engagements and historical relations have made Oman an admirable second home for more than 573,000 Indians. Our large expatriate workforce serves as a bridge between India and Oman, contributing to wealth and prosperity for both countries," the Times of Oman quoted him as saying.

The Indo-Oman business opportunities seminar highlighted the key sectors offering investment opportunities, namely engineering, pharmaceuticals, food processing, construction and real estate, drugs and agricultural products, education and healthcare.

Emphasising on the importance of small and medium-scale industries, Wadhwa said, "Small business enterprises play a very important role in providing job opportunities. These enterprises usually operate in the service, trade, agri-business and manufacturing sectors. They include a wide variety of firms such as village handicraft-makers, small machine shops and computer software firms that possess a wide range of sophistication and skills."

"In business, small and medium-scale enterprises represent an important source of innovation. In society, they are an important source of employment," he added.

The Indo-Oman business opportunities seminar was the first of four seminars being organised by the Embassy of India over the next few months, which aim to strengthen business ties between the two countries.