Shurooq Sets Sharjah – India Relations at New Business Frontiers during UIEF 2016

The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) wrapped up its recent participation at the 2nd UAE – India Economic Forum 2016 (UIEF), which took place on October 19-20 at Madinat Jumeirah’s Mina A’Salam. Shurooq’s participation at UIEF, headlining as a platinum sponsor for its 2nd edition, resulted with a richer economic outlook on investments between Sharjah and India, and mapped-out its strategic and existing economic climates.

His Excellency Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), was among an elite group of key speakers who shared a diverse set of insights on current investment climates, which took place during the forum’s first panel discussion titled “Economic Climate & Indian Economy Overview: Infrastructure”. He highlighted the growing significance of the India-UAE economic and commercial relations, which contributed to the stability and strength of a rapidly diversifying and deepening bilateral relationships between the two countries. He also emphasized on the strategic role Sharjah plays in diversifying Indian investments within the UAE, as well as investments within new markets across the entire region.

“For India, Sharjah has been historically known to be the birth place for India’s economic expansion into the UAE and the region. Sharjah represented a deep-rooted success story that the UAE-India business relations sustained until today, this effectively positioned the UAE as India’s third largest trading partner in 2015 after China and US. Free zones in Sharjah is currently made up of 7,000 Indian companies, with projections still pointing towards growth as our tax-free ecosystem continues to prove an ideal business climate for Indian investors,” said His Excellency Mawan Al Sarkal.

He added: “Our choice to participate and Platinum-sponsor the 2nd UIEF 2016 was part of our mission and vision to highlight Sharjah’s diverse business potential and investment opportunities across some of the most prominent business leaders from India and the UAE. Furthermore, our participation falls within our dedicated efforts to support our business partners from India, by sharing Sharjah’s latest economic developments and identifying our current market gaps.”

During the panel session, Shurooq’s “Invest in Sharjah” brand made a special appearance, with Al Sarkal outlining details of the brand’s offerings especially in the field of sharing new and existing insights, which directly position Sharjah as a more transparent, dynamic and attractive economy to Indian investors as well as global business owners.

He continued: “The UAE is India’s top export destination, accounting for more than 10 per cent of its tangible exports, which also is another economic potential for future development. Through “Invest in Sharjah”, we were successful in communicating a set of insights that stimulated investors’ interests, as well as enabled them a more confident take in understanding why investing in Sharjah now is the right way to move forward. For example, Sharjah is forecasted to spend heavily on transport and logistics, tourism, healthcare and environment infrastructures as part of its economic diversification process – an opportunity Indian companies, traders and SMEs to capitalise on.”

Sharjah has rapidly emerged as one of the global transit points and gateways to India, Africa and Asia – an area for increasing revenue from India by opening up new routes and more frequent flights. Tourism, healthcare and SMEs continue to share common grounds for profitability between Sharjah and India, as these sectors are key contributing factors to the significant growths of their FDIs, job opportunities and GDPs.