India Inc looks to Dubai as hub to expand business

India's business community is increasingly looking to use Dubai as a hub to expand their business and grow internationally, DMCC, the world's most interconnected free zone, and the leading trade and enterprise hub for commodities in Dubai, said as it concluded its week-long roadshow visiting Mumbai and Kolkata, West Bengal.

Headquartered in Dubai, and home to 13,700 companies and growing, one Indian company joins DMCC every working day. Over 2,000 Indian businesses have already come to DMCC to grow their business in Dubai and beyond, including the Tata Group, the UPL Group, Rosy Blue, the Adani Group, Blue Star, McLeod Russell and many others.

Passionate about connecting people and markets, DMCC visited Mumbai on October 3 with their 'Made for Trade Live' roadshow. With over 300 Indian business leaders in attendance, the roadshow's agenda explored the opportunities of setting up a company in DMCC, and the flexible benefits of operating out of Dubai. A second roadshow that attracted over 150 people, marked DMCC's inaugural roadshow in Kolkata, West Bengal, took place on October 4.

Both events garnered strong support from high level delegates in both India and the UAE. DMCC expressed gratitude for the strong support it received from esteemed government representatives including UAE Consul General, Mohammed Saleh Ahmed Jalah Al Teneij; Dr Ahmed A.R. Albanna, Ambassador of UAE to India; Ahmad Sultan Al Falahi, Minister Plenipotentiary - Commercial; and Javed Ahmed Khan, Minister of the West Bengal Government.

"Valued at just $180 million in the 1970s, compared to the $50 billion we see today, the UAE-India partnership is a great example of how strong leadership and collaboration delivers. Our inaugural DMCC Made for Trade Live road shows in Mumbai and Kolkata sets out to build on this success by connecting business leaders here with Dubai's pro-business community to unlock new opportunities and strengthen the future of trade for all," stated Gautam Sashittal, chief executive officer, DMCC.

Trade between the UAE and India has a prosperous history. During the roadshow, DMCC highlighted its role in driving the next generation of cross-border trade to new heights, and shared it aims to build on the strong bilateral trading ties and cultural friendships that exist between the UAE and India.

As a free zone, DMCC continues to be an ideal partner for Indian business. For the last two years, DMCC has been ranked the number one free zone in the world by the Financial Times' fDi magazine.

The free zone offers an ultra-modern commercial environment in which resident businesses maintain 100 per cent ownership, pay zero corporate taxation and in which there is no limit on the repatriation of profits.

Beyond high quality commercial space and infrastructure, DMCC provides cutting-edge physical platforms for trade, for example of gold, diamonds, tea, coffee and other commodities. Dubai is playing a major role for global tea trade. Last year, more than 45 million kilograms of tea was traded through the DMCC Tea Centre, more than four million kilograms of which came from India.

DMCC's exchange, the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange lists many India-centric products, including gold, the BSE Sensex, Indian rupees futures and Indian single stock futures. Today, almost thirty per cent of the global trade in Indian rupee futures takes place on DGCX.

Source: Khaleej Times