India seeks UAE investment in infrastructure sector

Dubai, June 15 (UNI) India will need an investment of around 500 billion dollars in infrastructure sectors and the UAE investors should look at becoming major players in this area, Union Minister of State for Personnel and Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri said here today.

Speaking at the 2nd FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum here, Mr Pauchouri said India was poised to play a defining role in the global economic system. ''We are also impressed with the emergence of the UAE as the economic power house in the Gulf. India with a growing middle class and liberal economic policies, is throwing up huge opportunities to foreign investors,'' he told the delegates comprising representatives of trade and industry from Dubai and India.

Thanking the UAE for supporting New Delhi's bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC, Mr Pachouri said Indian government will continue to explore new and emerging opportunities for rapidly diversifying relations between India and the UAE.

The Minister stressed that UAE is the second largest destination for Indian exports after the US.

It is notable that at 8.5 billion USD in 2005-06, India's exports to the UAE are bigger than its exports to the rest of West Asia, including Iraq and Iran.

Besides growing economic co-operation, India and the UAE are also moving towards closer political and strategic engagement for furthering peace and prosperity in the region.

Leading a 100 member business delegation from India, FICCI president Saroj Kumar Poddar underscored the huge business opportunities that both the countries throw up, thereby generating excitement among business circles of both India and the UAE.

Drawing attention to the bilateral trade turnover of 13 billion dollars in 2005-06, he pointed out that keeping the potentialities in mind, bilateral trade and investment flows must increase further.

''We should aim at achieving a bilateral trade turnover of 30 billion USD by 2010 and an incremental FDI flow of 25 billion USD over the next ten years'' he said.

Elaborating further, he said these FDI flows should be both ways. While Indian companies are globalising and must leverage UAE's strategic location , the UAE must look at investing its financial surpluses in India as it offers the prospect of superior and secure returns compared to other destinations.

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