INDIAN INVESTORS SHOW KEEN INTEREST IN DUBAI

The ten-strong Dubai public sector delegation led by the Government of Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) that returned from a series of roadshows across four Indian cities confirmed a keen interest among investors in using Dubai as a regional business base.

"Dubai is broadly considered as one of the most competitive economies in the region and our consistent competitiveness has facilitated us to continue to play an important role in the regional and international arena," said DTCM Director General, Khalid A. bin Sulayem.

The roadshows were undertaken upon the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE Minister of Defence and Chairman of the DTCM.

He noted that the high attendance in each city where the roadshows were held confirmed the keen interest of the Indian entrepreneurs. Around 260 industrialists in Delhi, 85 in Hyderabad, 105 in Bangalore and 302 in Mumbai attended the DTCM roadshows. All attendees were members of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII - that has a membership of over 4,000 companies) and included entrepreneurs, bankers and senior representatives from the public sector.

"Over the years we have been organizing several inward investment promotion drives to keep investors in tune with business opportunities in Dubai through various channels including roadshows, familiarization trips for senior decision makers as well as business journalists," said Mr. bin Sulayem.

The Indian roadshows were organized with a view to further promote inward investment and strengthen trade links with India and update the business community with commercial trends and the investment environment in Dubai.

"We are committed to strengthening our trade ties with India even further and have adopted a proactive marketing strategy to attract Indian enterprises and industries to invest in Dubai," Mr. bin Sulayem stressed.

The roadshows provided co-participants with an opportunity to network with top ranking Indian industrialists to meet and encourage them to do business with or through Dubai.

The most positive outcome of the roadshows was the signing of an MOU between the DTCM and the CII and should go a long way in jointly promoting the area.

The Dubai delegates confirmed that the roadshows were an outstanding success and described the event as a new milestone in the area of commercial interaction between Dubai and India.

This was the first-ever joint investment promotion drive in India undertaken by the department and formed part of a powerful investment strategy for further developing Dubai as the trading hub of the Middle East.

The Dubai team at the event comprised DTCM officials as well as representatives from: Dubai Investments, Dubai Investments Park Development Co. LLC, Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce & Media Free Zone Authority, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Ideas Oasis, Palm Islands Developers, EMAAR, Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Dubai Cargo Village, Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority and Emirates.

The DTCM also conducted a high profile press conference to launch the investment promotion drive in India that was attended by more than 25 senior journalists from leading publications and received countrywide exposure. DTCM also organized interviews for the Dubai team on various TV channels including CNBC.