UAE proposes joint ventures with India
The UAE on Tuesday used a landmark visit by Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to propose joint investment ventures, saying the two countries already are major trading partners.
Trade between the UAE and India stood at around $29.4 billion in 2009, accounting for nearly 16.4 per cent of the Emirates’ total commercial exchange, Minister of Foreign Trade Sheikh Lubna Al Qassimi said during a speech at talks with the Indian leader at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The level is nearly 13 times the exchange 10 years ago and the bulk of the increase was in non-oil trade, the minister said.
Her figures showed non-oil trade between the two countries, which have long-standing strong political and economic links, leaped by nearly 57 per cent to $20.4bn in the first half of 20I0 over the same period last year.
“Dear all, we are poised to increase our total exchange to as much as $32.7bn this year,” she said, adding that India’s investments in the UAE have reached $2.5bn or 7 per cent of the UAE’s total inbound FDI in 2007.
“We encourage our Indian partners to continue taking advantage of our economic and political stability as well as our numerous business incentives,” she said.
“There are many vital areas of collaboration that we may explore, such as the development of our partnerships in small and medium industries… the establishment of more joint ventures in information and communications technology… the introduction of more trade fairs between our countries to promote our respective national products… and greater emphasis on mutual FDI’s into the renewable energy sector.”
Sheikha Lubna’s figures showed the UAE is also the top Middle Eastern and 10th global investor in India. Last year, she said, a group of our major companies invested around $1.5bn in India, accounting for an estimated 1.4 per cent of its total foreign direct investments (FDI) for 2009.
“Our bilateral relations have achieved outstanding results over the years, but we still aspire to continue developing them even further in the future through utilizing all available opportunities in order to develop our two country's economies.”