The first-ever India-UAE Friendship Golf Cup has not only created ripples in the international golf circuit but has also strengthened the cultural and business relationship between the two counties. This tournament, which has support of the Indian embassy in UAE, has become a bridge between Emiratis and Indians.
Three of the five rounds of the competition have seen participation from ambassador and consul generals from Thailand, India, Malaysia, South Africa, Japan and Korea and leading businessmen and senior executives from different emirates and India. Some of the participants of the Friendship Cup included Indian ambassador TP Seetharam, Indian consul general Anurag Bhushan, Thailand ambassador Warawudh Chuwiruch, South African consul general Manabile Shogole, consul general of Philippines Frank Cimafranca, consul general of Republic of Korea Ahn Seong-Doo and Japan consul general Hisahi Michigami.
Global CEO of Hinduja Global Solutions Parth Sarkar, non-resident business head of National Bank of Abu Dhabi Ajay Kapoor, MD of Cambria General Trading Ashok Kumar, Acore Group CEO Sudhakar Murthy, Editor of TheTribuneOnline.com Deepak Arora and CEO of GolflAN Dhruv Verma also took part. Anurag Bhushan said, “Through this tournament we are using golf as a medium to further strengthen the relationship between the two counties, especially between the business communities. This initiative also aims to use golf as a platform to foster learning and cultural exchange between Emiratis and the UAE’s sizeable Indian community. The relationship between India and the UAE is already close. There is a great role of the UAE in India’s growth story. The bilateral trade between India and UAE for 2013-2014 is USD 59.6 billion. The total FDI from UAE to India is estimated to be USD 2.70 billion (April 2014) and ranked as eleventh biggest investor in India.”
On the contribution of the Indian expats in UAE, he said the Indians make the largest expatriate community in the country, with estimated population of around 2.6 million. Around 65 per cent of the Indian community belong to the blue-collar category workers (employed mostly in construction companies, municipalities, agricultural farms), roughly 20 per cent are white collar non-professional (clerical staff, shop assistants, salesmen, accountants et al) and remaining 15 per cent are professionals, businessmen and their family members.
The first round of the four-city tournament began on August 29 last year in Dubai. The second round was held on November 1 at Abu Dhabi and third round at Sharjah on December 20. The fourth round of the tournament will be held in February at Ras al-Khaimah. The grand finale will be held at the world famous Emirates Golf Club which is the official host of the Desert Classic, European Tour et al on March 14, 2015.
This unique series was conceptualised and managed by GolflAN, a renowned golf consultancy company that allows golfers across the world to gather at a unique platform. GolflAN, launched its UAE operations in June last year and is committed to making golf accessible to a much wider population in the UAE through their innovative product ‘Elite Golfer’s Club’ membership card, according to Dhruv Verma, CEO, GolflAN.
Dhruv said, “The membership allows golfers to play hassle free golf across 30 plus golf courses in India and over 90 golf courses worldwide at unbelievably subsidised rates.”