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UAE Freezones Biz News Updates
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UAE- India, Sharjah can further capitalise on FDI collaborations
There is a tremendous opportunity for both India and Sharjah to further
capitalise on FDI collaborations, said Paras Shahdadpuri, chairman of the
Nikai Group of Companies.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the growing trade links between India and
the UAE at the 2016 Sharjah FDI Forum, Shahdadpuri noted that India's FDI
exports account for about 30 billion a year.
"Sharjah needs to establish strategies and mechanisms to be able to attract
a good piece of India's FDI pie. Indians invested almost 50 billion in
businesses in the UAE. Of the 15,000 companies which operate out of the
Sharjah free zones, about 7,000 are owned and controlled by Indian
investors. With about 20 billion pumped in property and real estate
investments in the past four years, India's FDI statistics in the UAE are
staggeringly high," he said.
Sudesh Aggarwal, chairman of the India Trade & Exhibition Centre ME,
highlighted how the strategic location of the two countries helped his
business flourish in the UAE. "46 per cent of the UAE's SMEs are based out
of Sharjah due to their ports, robust infrastructural support, considerably
lower establishment costs and minimal regulatory hassles," he said.
C.S. Raghavan, chief representative for the GCC, Middle East and West Asia
region at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) discussed how the CII
has and continues to build competitiveness for the Indian industries,
bringing them up to global standards in terms of quality, by putting into
place international manufacturing protocols and investing in human resource
development. He also said how the establishment of free zones, like Dubai
Internet City, Jebel Ali in Dubai and the Sharjah International Airport Free
Zone and Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah, especially in the past 20 years, has
only provided more impetus for Indian businesses to be set up in this part
of the world.
With a 2.6 million Indian diasporas in the UAE, of which approximately
300,000 are business owners, the numbers are only increasing, the panelists
said.
The two-day Sharjah FDI Forum 2016 was organised under the patronage of His
Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme
Council and Ruler of Sharjah; by the Sharjah Investment and Development
Authority (Shurooq) in collaboration with the UK's Financial Times and the
fDi Magazine.
Oct 10, 2016
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Courtesy Khaleej Times
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