During the event, the SCCI invited Indian business leaders to take advantage of Sharjah’s promising investment opportunities…reports Asian Lite News
The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has organised the Sharjah-India business forum to discuss economic relations and ways of strengthening business collaboration between Sharjah and India.
Attended by more than 50 leaders of local and Indian businesses, the forum welcomed a high-level delegation from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
During the event, the SCCI invited Indian business leaders to take advantage of Sharjah’s promising investment opportunities, which have become more rewarding after signing the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Abdulaziz Mohammed Shattaf, Assistant Director-General of the Communication and Business Sector at the Sharjah Chamber, said that the forum has provided the perfect setting to further strengthen the already robust UAE-Indian cooperation. “The historic UAE-India CEPA, which entered into force on 1st May, 2022, has set the stage for the two friendly countries to open up a new chapter of strategic cooperation.”
“We are looking forward, through this gathering, to advancing Sharjah-India collaboration to new levels and achieving the ultimate goals of the business communities in both nations, while also significantly contributing to the comprehensive partnership objectives, such as increasing intra-non-oil commerce between the two nations to US$100 billion yearly over the next five years, up from the current US$45 billion,” Shattaf added.
For his part, Pradeep Sureka, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, emphasised that hosting the forum is yet another testament to the extraordinary relations that the UAE has with India, which have been growing over the last decades in a variety of economic sectors.
Sureka said that the CEPA is India’s first deal with the UAE, to which Indian exports amount to about US$60 billion, adding that this reaffirms the fact that the UAE is a major gateway to global trade in the region.