UAE to open food park in Kerala

The UAE minister also invited Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to attend the ongoing Dubai Expo. The chief minister agreed to attend the Expo in February 2022, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that the UAE government will set up three food park’s in the country, of which one will be in Kerala.

He said this after having talks with the visiting UAE Minister for Foreign Trade, Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi.

“He (UAE Minister) has agreed to set up one food park in Kerala and for that he will be sending a technical team for talks with us,” said Vijayan.

Kerala CM and the UAE minister also discussed the construction of a housing complex with the help of Red Crescent, Dubai. He said action would be taken to complete the project with the Red Cross.

“The Minister also agreed to see that steps are taken to see that the ongoing project of the Kerala Government, Life Mission (building homes for the weaker sections) is completed,” added Vijayan.

UAE Minister has invited Chief minister to attend the ongoing Dubai Expo. The chief minister agreed to attend the Expo in February 2022.

UAE Ambassador to India Dr Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Banna and Lulu Group Chairman Dr MA Yousafzai were also present at the meeting. The UAE Minister and Ambassador were in Thiruvananthapuram to attend the inauguration of Lulu Group’s Mall.

India-UAE relations

India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla has expressed the confidence that India-UAE bilateral relations will see extraordinary developments in coming months.

“We are in the process of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the UAE,” he said, adding that negotiations are proceeding well.

“We are optimistic that it will provide a unique opportunity to take India-UAE trade and investment relations to new heights. We are looking forward to the conclusion of the negotiations at the earliest,” he said while speaking on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE during his visit to the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

“There is a lot more to see in the India-UAE bilateral relationship as we progress. Our relationship is based on technology, finance and energy and today it is further bolstered by the most important aspect of people-to-people contact,” he added.

Elaborating on the India-UAE relations, the Foreign Secretary said, “We must acknowledge that our relationship with the United Arab Emirates is at a high-point. The visit of His Highness, the Crown Prince of the Abu Dhabi[His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces], to India in 2016 and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE in 2018 opened a new chapter in our bilateral relations. Those two visits shaped our relationship.”

Highlighting the significance of India’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai, Shringla said, “Dubai Expo provides a unique platform for countries to showcase their capabilities at a global level. The India Pavilion is one of the five permanent exhibitions at the Expo, and it truly showcases the progress and development made by the country in the last few years. It provides visitors a chance to witness India’s economic development and rich cultural heritage.”

Earlier this month, Dubai Customs has organised a virtual meeting with an Indian business and trade delegation as part of their “Ertibat Initiative” to enhance cooperation with diplomatic missions and trade partners.

The meeting took place in the presence of Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, CEO of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Director-General of Dubai Customs; and Dr. Aman Puri, Indian Consul-General to the UAE.

Dr. Bouri thanked Dubai Customs for organising the meetings, which serve the interests of both parties and facilitate trade and investment activity between India and the UAE.

The Indian Consul-General added, “Trade between the UAE and India shows signs of remarkable recovery and growth thanks to the world’s procedures and measures last year that led to a slowdown in the spread of the pandemic. India and the UAE are continuing their negotiations on the comprehensive economic partnership agreement, further strengthening ties, expanding economic and investment possibilities and ushering in a new era of strategic collaboration between the two countries.

“Such an agreement could increase mutual trade of commodities to US$100 billion and services to $15 billion in the next five years. Many Indian businesspersons are moving their headquarters or branches to Dubai. Expo 2020 Dubai means a lot to us in India, and we are the largest nationality in the exhibition.”

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Musabih, in turn, said, “India is Dubai’s second-largest trade partner, and the emirate’s trade with India touched AED67 billion in the first half of 2021 (AED32 billion imports, AED19 billion exports, and AED16 billion re-exports), growing 74 percent from AED39 billion in the corresponding period in 2020.”

Major commodities include diamonds at AED20.8 billion, gold at AED10.4 billion, petroleum oils at AED4.3 billion, and telecom at AED4 billion.