UAE businesspersons hail visit of Mohamed bin Zayed to India

The UAE businesspersons have hailed the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to India, and the resolutions that followed his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On the sidelines of the Business Forum, they stressed that the visit of Sheikh Mohamed would open new horizons for cooperation based on strong foundation between the two countries.

Nora bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council, told Emirates News Agency (WAM) in a statement that the visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, which came in the wake of the Prime Minister Modi's visit to the UAE in August, "reflects the interest of the two sides to follow up on the resolutions of the two meetings to further strengthen the relations between the two countries"

She added the tour uncovered potential cooperation opportunities between the two countries in the areas of politics, economy and investment, citing that Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and is currently on its way to build a knowledge-driven economy. Al Kaabi noted that the two share a similar strategy to benefit from advanced technology.

Ahmed Al Sayigh, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), said the visit gains momentum at a time when India is experiencing fast growth that could be built on to open new horizons in the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries. He added, "We, in the ADGM, hope that the market would be a gateway for the Indian financial institutions accessing the Gulf region in particular, and the Middle East in general."

Hani Rashid Al Hamili, Secretary-General of the Dubai Economic Council, said India represents a strategic hub for the UAE, especially Dubai given the mutual trade.

"We, in the council, work to bolster the trade and economic cooperation with India in accordance with the vision of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum."

Al Hamili said the council, during the visit of Sheikh Mohamed to India, signed an agreement with India's Import and Export Bank with the aim to woo investments, strengthen funding of projects and prepare market studies.

He stressed that economic and trade relations between the UAE and India were set for further growth and development in line with the high growth rates in both countries, and within the framework of the strategic partnership between the UAE and India, which was strengthened by the visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India.

The Business Forum kicked off with the inaugural speech of Ahmed Hareb Al Falahi, Commercial and Trade Attache at the UAE Embassy in India, in which he stressed that the visit of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed would achieve positive results in the area of trade between the two countries.

He underlined that the visit presents a strong model of partnership in the world when it comes to economic partnership based on deep-rooted trade relations between the UAE and India.

Mohammad Al-Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, said the Authority is interested in the Indian market, given its huge opportunities, including a large number of Indian tourists travelling to the UAE in general and Abu Dhabi in particular. He pointed out that the number of Indian tourists to Abu Dhabi stood at over 250,000 in 2015, and more than 1.2 million tourists to Dubai.

Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and CEO of Zensar Technologies, demonstrated the development of telecommunications and technology sector in India, stressing that these sectors were considered the most extensive growth sectors in India and attract investments to scale even better heights in the field of smart government in India, including the use of smart phones in the commercial, economic and service transactions in various fields.

Natarjan called on the telecommunications companies and Emirati businesspersons to take advantage of great opportunities in the sectors of telecommunications and technology in India, especially following the availability of a joint investment fund worth 2 billion dollar that has been offered.