Sharjah aims to boost trade ties with India 

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The UAE has invested more than Dh18billion in India and intends to further boost its economic ties with the subcontinent, whose citizens form the largest group of expatriates in the UAE, Minister of Foreign Trade Shaikah Lubna Al Qassimi said on Wednesday.

Delivering the keynote speech at the first-ever India-Sharjah Business Forum at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shaikha Lubna said the UAE's multi-million ongoing projects in India reflect the country's strong commitment to the Indian market. The projects, she said, included the first phase of the Kulpi Port in West Bengal worth Dh661million and a Dh808million Special Economic Zone 
in India.

"The UAE, in general, maintains flourishing trade and economic relations with India, which has overtaken the US and China to become our largest foreign trade partner," said Shaikha Lubna. "Last year, commercial exchange between our countries reached around Dh118billion, accounting for 15 per cent of our total foreign trade.

This figure is an impressive 48per cent improvement from 2007, and represents more than half of India's trade with GCC states," she said. Indian imports for the same period, the minister said, totalled Dh61.97billion, while the UAE's exports reached Dh17.9billion.

Referring to the Indian Overseas Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi's recent statement that investment requirements in infrastructure over the next three years could reach Dh1.6trillion, 30 per cent of which will involve public-private partnerships, Shaikah Lubna said, "Sharjah and the UAE government will be closely examining opportunities in this area. So, hopefully, we will see key agreements materialise in near future." Calling upon the business community in Sharjah and India to explore the business and investment options mutually available in both the countires, the minister invited India to take advantage of the huge success of the UAE's diversification efforts.

"Our non-oil industries accounted for Dh461billion of our 2008 GDP, comprising around 60 per cent of national economic output."

"We increased our 2009 budget by more than 20 per cent to fund infrastructure improvements that support these and other growth sectors, and shall continue to pursue the expansion of our economic activities next year," the minister added.

She said the current economic realities, while questioning the future of respective regions and the world, are also opening up unique opportunities for allies such as Sharjah and India to broaden their trade and economic cooperation. "India, acknowledged as the second-fastest growing major economy in the world last year, is an excellent partner for growth. Since ancient time it has relied on trade and commerce as the backbone of its economy. Today, the country is the world's fastest-growing telecommunication market, the world's biggest consumer of gold and jewellery and home to the world's biggest sugar refiner, among other superlatives."

As the third largest emirate in the UAE, Sharjah continues to expand its role in the nation's development agenda. "The territory accounts for almost 50 per cent of our country's industrial GDP thanks to its well-developed free trade and specialised industrial zones. Sharjah and India continue to uplift each other's business and investment strengths, continuing a legacy of bilateral cooperation which harkens back to olden times when Sharjah served as a trade hub for the western coast of India," she noted.

Consul-General of India Venu Rajamony said the two-way Indo-UAE trade already exceeded $44 billion a year. "But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Sharjah, the traditional historic partner of India and India which is growing rapidly, will see many more investment opportunities in the near future," said Rajamony.

By Sajila Saseendran