Potential to sustain, boost trade with UAE .

With the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerging as number one trading partner for India, followed by China, the US, Saudi Arabia and Germany, there is significant potential for further growth in trade numbers based on the current trends, according to representatives from both these countries.

The bilateral trade between India and the UAE for the period April 2008-2009 was at $48.27 billion, which is a significant growth over $29.11 billion a year ago. The Indian exports to the UAE grew at over 53 per cent and India's imports were up at 52.89 per cent. This is time to consolidate, feel both the countries as there has been enhanced interest for partnerships and joint ventures.

Mr Mana S. Sultan Al Suwaidi, Commercial Attache, Embassy of United Arab Emirates, said that Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad, in particular, and India, in general, continue to engage businesses across both sides. This is evident from the recent interactions between representatives of both the countries.

“Therefore, we are in the process of preparing a report that highlights the potential for trade and co-operation in some of the areas such as energy including solar power generation. The learning from some of the large projects such as the solar-powered satellite city in Abu Dhabi could be shared between the two,” he said.

The recent Dubai debt crisis has had some impact on the trade between the two. Yet, the growth momentum in the UAE continues. In fact, India, which provides significant manpower to support projects in the UAE, is playing a vital role in supporting engineering, infrastructure and services segments. However, there is potential to tap into new areas, including agri-food processing, it is felt.

The Vice-President of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (Fapcci), Mr V. S. Raju, said, “we seem to have crossed the initial phase of turbulent times and appear to have achieved reasonable success in coping with the downturn in the global economy.

“Our attention should now move towards accelerating the upswing in business, industrial trends and evolve appropriate strategies to sustain this momentum.”

Mr Raju said that Andhra Pradesh has become one of the favourable investment destinations as rated by the World Bank. The large human resource base too offers scope to engage in the services segment.

Source : Business Line