Uttar Pradesh’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Minister Rakesh Sachan said that the centuries-old traditional and economic relations between India and the UAE would further get strengthened through the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors’ Summit -2023, which would prove to be a milestone for UP and UAE.
While addressing a session with delegates from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the second day of the Global Investors’ Summit on Saturday, Sachan interacted with Ahmed Bin Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of UAE, and Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economy Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi.
The UAE ministers said that this was just the beginning as in the coming times many of their investors would move to UP and take advantage of the investment-friendly environment brought about by the Yogi Adityanath government in UP.
Rakesh Sachan said that on September 23, 2021, there was a partnership between the Government of India and the UAE for economic cooperation, which gave extremely positive results. “This partnership has resulted in a manifold increase in trade between the UAE and India. Exports and imports from the UAE have reached $50 billion,” he pointed out.
“We look forward to good relations with the UAE in UP. Last month, our team visited the UAE where Dr Thani warmly welcomed us. The Abu Dhabi Chambers of Commerce and Industry also extended a lot of cooperation. Lulu Mall has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of Rs 3,300 crore with us, under which it will open its malls in Ayodhya and Varanasi as well as some other places,” he further informed.
At the same time, Elana Group has also announced investment in the food processing sector. An agreement has also been signed with Lulu Mall for self-help groups, so that the products made by the women of SHGs can also reach the people through these malls, he added.
Urging investors to collaborate with UP, Sachan said, “The mantra given by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of 'Work for every hand, smile on every face' has to be made successful at all costs. I appeal to the investors of UAE to come and invest in UP.”
UAE's minister of state said that they had mutual relations with Uttar Pradesh. “We have recently taken forward government to government cooperation with each other and I am hopeful that this cooperation will scale new heights. Apart from traditional investments in Uttar Pradesh, we are also focusing on new and emerging sectors. These include defence, space, food processing, agriculture processing, climate, drone technology, logistics and many other areas. In this series, some UAE companies are going to set up food parks in Uttar Pradesh. We have set a target that the UAE's total trade with India will reach $ 100 billion in the next five years. Last year, to strengthen India-UAE economic ties, we launched 'I Too, You Too'. It was very successful,” he said.