India, Sharjah can further capitalise on FDI collaborations

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India, Sharjah can further capitalise on FDI collaborations
Paras Shahdadpuri and other officials at the concluding day of the 2016 Sharjah FDI Forum on Thursday

Published: Thu 29 Sep 2016, 8:35 PM

Last updated: Thu 29 Sep 2016, 10:39 PM

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.
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com

By Staff Report

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