Friday, Nov 26, 2010
Gulf News
seeks investment in crucial sectors
Dubai Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil called upon business institutions and councils in India and the UAE to take necessary measures to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in sectors such as energy, oil and petro-chemical industries.
“Our plans for expansion of our infrastructure, energy and industrial sectors, presents opportunities for investment. I call upon the investor community from the UAE to participate in the growth story of India,” Patil said in Dubai yesterday.
“There is potential for the current level of Indo-UAE trade to be boosted considerably in the coming years,” she said. “The institutional arrangements like the India-UAE Joint Business Council and the India-UAE Joint Commission for Economic, Technical and Scientific Cooperation should be reactivated.
“Immense potential also lies for a mutually bene-ficial partnership in the energy sector. Both countries must consider more cooperation between their respective oil-industry sectors for establishing a long term relationship in the field of petrochemical industries, not only in India and the UAE, but in third countries also,” she said.
Trade between India and the UAE is currently valued at $43 billion, (Dh158.1 billion) a massive increase from $180 million per annum in the 1970s, turning the UAE into one of India’s leading trading partners.
“Our trade is the biggest in the world,” said Paras Shahdadpuri, Chairman of the Indian Business and Professional Council in Dubai. “The UAE is the number one trading partner, leaving behind the USA, Germany, Japan and the UK.”
Currently, Dubai’s imports and exports with India are concentrated on precious/semi-precious stones, textiles, base metals and ceramics among others.
Shahdadpuri said that while there’s a big concentration on goods and materials for trade, there are opportunities also in the service sector. “The service sector is also booming in the UAE and India’s 63 per cent GDP is coming from services,” he said. “The President has suggested that India and the UAE should work together in third countries which will really boost other cooperation.”
Dubai is currently home to almost 20,000 Indian companies, both ownership and partnership, registered with the Dubai Chamber and operating across various economic sectors in the emirate, said Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Exploring investment opportunities is a key step in enhancing trade between Dubai and India as there are many potential business opportunities in areas like infrastructure, agriculture, food processing, information technology services to trade, export and re-export,” he said.
Al Ghurair said the President’s visit will help increase the volume of trade and attract more Indian companies into the region while opening up new areas of common interest between the two countries.
Karen dias/Gulf News
Business luncheon
Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Maryam Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs (left) arrive for a business luncheon in Dubai yesterday.
Karen dias/Gulf News
In august company
Patil with Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Karen Dias/Gulf News
Prominent guests
Emirati and Indian delegates attend the business luncheon held by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
PTI
Dignified presence
His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and Indian President Pratibha Patil and other senior?officials arrive for the inauguration of the Indian Trade Exhibition Centre at the Sharjah Expo Centre yesterday.
By Samia Badih?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
