India, Sharjah to bolster economic ties

Dubai: Over 100 Indian investors participated in a business conference in the UAE to strengthen Sharjah’s trade relations with India and to promote the Gulf emirate as a leading business and investment hub in the region. 

The ‘Sharjah-India Business Roundtable’, held on the sidelines of the last week’s Indian-UAE Partnership Summit, was part of India’s continued interest in the emirate’s diversified economy, a statement said. The conference focused on addressing the investment opportunities spanning across emerging sectors such as technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy, in a bid to expand the number of businesses in Sharjah in the coming years. 

More than 100 Indian investors participated in the conference aimed at strengthening Sharjah’s trade ties with India and to promote the Gulf emirate as a leading business and investment hub in the region. Sharjah is one the key drivers for Indian outbound investment into the Gulf region, valued at more than USD 137 billion and a primary non-oil trade partner. 

India and Sharjah have shown significant growth, with the Indian economy expected to grow by 7.5 per cent and UAE’s economy at an accelerated 3.9 per cent rate in 2018, the statement said. “Sharjah has historically been one of the key drivers for Indian outbound investment volumes into the Gulf Region, and was a key access gateway for international markets looking to bolster their investments in India and the wider Asian region,” said Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, Executive Chairman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). He said the governments have a history of collaborating together across numerous cultural and business initiatives, reflecting on the diverse investment journey Sharjah and India have had for many centuries. 

“The business roundtable is a key opportunity to address the substantial changes and development Sharjah’s economy underwent, and how these developments directly service Indian investors,” Sarkal said.