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Apr 02, 2024
Lt. Gen. Surinder Nath, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Abu Dhabi, first of all. It's good to see you in such good numbers.
Before I begin, let me thank His Highness Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan for his very consistent support in this initiative. Ten years is not a short time, but he has always been there to support IOD.
Given the key position occupying your companies, I think it's very important for you to personally be in the UAE to see for yourself how dynamic and deep the India-UAE relationship is. As they say, seeing is believing
In India, there is so much buzz about the UAE. When the Prime Minister was here a few weeks ago, there was a lot of coverage in the media about his visit, the inauguration of the temple, the Ahlan Modi event, and also the substantive outcomes of that visit. Many of you might have personally seen the temple. The temple is now a reality. It emerges as some kind of lotus in the middle of the desert. It's a symbol of the ethos of harmony that is so prevalent in the UAE. A symbol of the graciousness of the UAE government, a symbol of the warm personal bond between Prime Minister Modi and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It is also a symbol of the civilizational connection between Bharat and the UAE, and much more.
Your businesses have much to gain from the transformation of the relationship, and I must say that from the Indian perspective, when we look at our relationships with different countries, this is perhaps the most transformed relationship in the last 10 years. This is the relationship where this transformation has been steered and guided by the vision of our leaders, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The fact that the prime minister has visited the UAE seven times in the last ten years and Sheikh Mohamed has visited India four times in the last ten years, itself speaks of the importance which we have for each other. It's a multidimensional relationship, but I will not go into much detail except for those that are relevant from your perspective. The Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed two years ago was not a destination; instead, it was an important milestone in the journey of our everstrengthening ties.
During the last visit of the Prime Minister a few weeks ago, we also signed the bilateral investment treaty, and that made the UAE the first country with which we both have a CEPA as well as a bilateral investment treaty. In terms of investments, last year, the UAE was the fourth largest source of FDI and, overall, the seventh largest FDI source. During the visit of Sheikh Mohammed to Ahmedabad as the chief guest of vibrant Gujarat in January this year, ADIA announced the opening of an office. This is the importance that the country attaches to India as a great trade and investment destination.
As governments, we can only make policies and take initiatives like CEPA, BIT, and the rest. Eventually, it is for the businesses to take advantage.
I feel trade and investment are more like the waters of an inner river; they will flow. But with policy initiatives such as CEPA and BIT, they will flow faster, and you all have to take advantage of that. Beyond trade and investment, some very fundamental changes are happening in this relationship. To highlight a few of them, today we are at the stage where we are linking our financial systems.
During the Prime Minister's visit in July last year, we signed an agreement to transact our bilateral trade in our local currencies, the rupee and the dirham. After that, we have transacted major oil consignments, gold consignments, and food consignments in our own currencies. This speaks of the kind of confidence with which we have been in our currencies and also in our relationship. If the UAE is the third largest trading partner of India and India is the second largest trading part of the UAE, it transacts about $85 billion worth of trade. It makes eminent sense not to resort to third-country currencies rather than relying on our own.
Two weeks ago, during the PM's visit, we also signed an agreement to connect our UPI with the UAE Instant Payment Platform (ANI). I think that's such a key thing to happen for the 3.5 million Indians here. It will provide them with some kind of seamless payment connectivity. I don't know if some of you have made any transactions here using the RuPay card; if you've not, please do, because the RuPay card is very much accepted here. One major outcome that we witnessed during the Prime Minister visit was that our RuPay card stack, the stack on which we have built our RuPay debit and credit cards, has actually been shared with the UAE, making the UAE the first country with which we have shared this fintech stack. It was actually launched during the prime minister's visit. We also signed a framework agreement on the India- Middle East Economic Corridor, which is such an important connectivity initiative in today's time and age.
You heard about the Bharat Mart. The Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the Ruler of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, jointly did the breaking for the Bharat Mart in Jebel Ali. The Bharat Mart will be an excellent platform where exporters can actually open shop and reach out to destinations like Africa and other countries. While not being on those continents in multiple places, thus taking advantage of Jebel Ali and the logistics hub that it has become.
While our relationship flourishes, I think you should also look at the opportunities the UAE offers. It is a very liberal business environment and has been at the heart of global economic opportunities as well as challenges in the recent past. While India has a bright spot on the global economic horizon, so does the UAE. If the global economy is growing by about 2.8%, the UAE last year grew at something like 5.7%, and that's very important. It's no longer in the economy, which is as heavily dependent on oil as it used to be in the past. Just a few days ago, the UAE Economy Minister mentioned in one of his speeches that today the share of the non-oil economy in the UAE is about 7.3 percent, and I think that's a big number.
In conclusion, I would say that the time to engage in business could not be better than it is now. As governments, we can only make policies and take initiatives like CEPA, BIT, and the rest. Eventually, it is for the businesses to take advantage. With that, I wish you all the best and hope you have a very enriching event. Thank you very much
Owned by: Institute of Directors, India
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the articles/ stories are the personal opinions of the author. IOD/ Editor is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information in those articles. The information, facts or opinions expressed in the articles/ speeches do not reflect the views of IOD/ Editor and IOD/ Editor does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
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