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Dubai: As part of major push to boost foreign direct investment to Dubai, the emirate’s leading business entities in trade and investment, real estate and start-up development comprising more than 80 companies visited India recently as part of a delegation led by Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI).

The delegation held seminars and meetings in Bengaluru and Chennai, in line with Dubai FDI’s investment promotion mission aimed at strengthening economic and investment collaboration with strategic cities around the world.

India’s investment performance in Dubai is reflective of its sustained interest and confidence in the emirate’s capability to provide a business environment that will allow for its capital to grow and expand to other leading markets.

- Ebrahim Hussain Ahli | Director of Investment Promotion Department, Dubai FDI

India is one of the UAE’s strongest economic partners with huge investments from both parties. In 2018, Indian investors have accumulated 31 FDI projects launched in Dubai with a total of Dh3.71 billion in capital. This makes India the second largest investor in Dubai in terms of FDI capital and the fourth largest in terms of projects during the first nine months of the year.

“Dubai maintains a steady and long-standing trade and economic relations with India, especially in booming cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai. Visiting these major economic hubs is part of our continuing efforts to promote other sectors where investing partners can explore new growth opportunities,” said Ebrahim Hussain Ahli, Director of Investment Promotion Department, Dubai FDI.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) from India to Dubai from 2015 to 2018 has reached a total of Dh6.12 billion FDI capital in a total of 109 projects, based on the latest data released by the Dubai FDI Monitor. From Bengaluru, there are a total of nine FDI projects with Dh22.6 million FDI capital since 2015. Chennai has three FDI projects in Dubai with a total investment of Dh34.2 million.

“India’s investment performance in Dubai is reflective of its sustained interest and confidence in the emirate’s capability to provide a business environment that will allow for its capital to grow and expand to other leading markets. We are confident this visit will further boost India’s leading position as a major investor in Dubai,” said Ahli.

Some of the key topics discussed during the seminars include themes such as: ‘Dubai Advantage’, ‘Legally Dubai’, ‘Shaping the Future of World Trade’, ‘Expo 2020 and Beyond: An Investor Perspective’, ‘The Real State of Real Estate in Dubai’, ‘Startups Ecosystem in Dubai’, and ‘Startups in India Scale Up in Dubai’.

“The recent Dubai FDI delegation visit provided Expo 2020 with a unique opportunity to meet with some of India’s leading businesses to encourage further foreign direct investment from India. Through a series of seminars, we were able to present Expo 2020 Dubai to this important audience, share our latest plans and discuss new areas of collaboration in the lead up to 2020 and beyond,” said Khalid Sharaf, Head of International Business Engagement at Expo 2020 Dubai.