Dubai: UAE companies that are 49 per cent expatriate-owned and 51 per cent Emirati-owned should be allowed to easily open branches across the GCC, a leading businessman has said.
Paras Shahdadpuri, chairman of the Nikai Group and past president of the Indian Business and Professionals Council, said that the contribution of expatriates and their companies should be better recognised in the Gulf.
"I believe that these companies should also be allowed to open their branches in other countries, that would be in the true spirit of the union," Shahdadpuri said.
His comments come a day after the UAE Cabinet passed regulations that limit red tape for GCC companies to open branches in the UAE, provided that the company is 100 per cent owned by a Gulf national. The other five nations of the GCC have not yet ratified the agreement, but are expected to do so.
But many companies in the UAE are split by 49 per cent to an expatriate and 51 per cent to an Emirati partner, such as Shahdadpuri's Nikai Group. He feels that this should not be an obstacle to prominent UAE companies expanding in the Gulf.
"Currently if I want to take my company to Qatar or Saudi Arabia I am not allowed, and even the 51 per cent owner is not allowed to open a branch," he said. "Expatriates are part of the strong economy of the UAE and contribute to it. They should be utilised across the GCC."
