UAE: Golden, Green visas create more opportunities for Indians to live and work in Emirates, says official

Speakers at the India-UAE Partnership summit shed light on how the historic trade deal has paved the way for a remarkable growth story

Essa Abdulla Al Ghurair, chairman, Essa Al Ghurair Investment; exchanging views with Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to the UAE (left); and Yogesh Mehta, CEO, Petrochem, during the Inaugural Plenary – Past, Present and Future at India UAE Partnership Summit held at Dubai Chambers on Tuesday. — Photo by M. Sajjad

Nandini Sircar

Published: Tue 24 Jan 2023, 3:46 PM

Last updated: Tue 24 Jan 2023, 6:00 PM

More skilled professionals and entrepreneurs in India have started exploring opportunities in the UAE over the past year, thanks to sweeping visa reforms and the landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa), experts said at a summit on Tuesday.

The UAE's Golden and Green visas, in particular, have been attracting talented individuals to the region, said Mohammad Ali bin Rashed Lootah, president and CEO, Dubai Chambers.

“The recent change in new visas makes it easier, more than ever before, for Indians to live, work and do businesses here. With the Golden visa and Green visa for entrepreneurs, it’s opening up new opportunities for all. Dubai Chamber stands at the very heart of this special partnership," Lootah said at the India-UAE Partnership summit, jointly organised by International Business Linkage Forum (IBLF) and Dubai International Chamber, one of the three chambers operating under Dubai Chambers.

"By the end of 2022 our membership database reveals 83,000 members of Indian companies. Our mandate is to strengthen international relationship with strong markets such as India,” he added.

Mohammad Ali bin Rashed Lootah, President & CEO, Dubai Chambers, giving inaugural and keynote speech during the India UAE-Partnership Summit held at Dubai Chambers on Tuesday. — Photo by M. Sajjad

India was the first country to sign such a bilateral trade agreement with the UAE, and the nation is integral to the UAE economy with approximately 3.5 million Indian citizens living here, Lootah explained.

"As the UAE and Dubai come to require top talent, it is a ripe market to cater to the needs of the local labour market, as well as attracting entrepreneurs and visionaries as a response,” he said.

A 'golden era' of entrepreneurship has begun, with India’s maturing Fintech ecosystem attracting UAE-based companies. Companies presenting emerging new models are already seeing traction on the back of the phenomenal India-UAE Cepa, which was signed last year.

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Speaking at the summit, which took place at the Dubai Chambers, Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to the UAE, said fintech is certainly one of those areas that are seeing a lot of investments.

"The target was $100 billion in five years (after signing of Cepa). We have been just about eight months and for this financial year, we are already hitting about $88 billion. We have seen some landmark investments, including say an investment of $2 billion by International Holding Company (IHC) Abu Dhabi into Adani energy and similar investments have been seen with Tata. A lot of these investments are going into the futuristic sectors… into areas dealing with renewable energies, into technology, and into startups,” the ambassador said.

It was also revealed that today more than 30 per cent of start-up communities in Dubai come from India and one million jobs have been created by Indian firms and non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the Middle East including the UAE.

— nandini@khaleejtimes.com