The fifth edition of the UAE-India Economic Forum recently took place at Waldorf Astoria, Dubai International Financial Centre, with the participation of high dignitaries and officials, leading experts and leaders from the two nations. 

India's partnership with the UAE is set to play a key role in its march towards the ambitious goal of becoming a US$5 trillion economy by 2022, said Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade and Industry, Ministry of Economy.

Addressing the opening session of the Forum organised by BusinessLive Middle East, Al Saleh said the strong bilateral ties are the result of the political will articulated by both governments and their sustained efforts to work together for the mutual benefit.

Al Saleh said the recent meeting of the UAE-India High Level Joint Task Force on Investments, which is a platform to communicate mutual requirements and vision for the future, has played a key role in boosting bilateral investments and cooperation.

"With Expo 2020 around the corner, we will witness India's commitment with one of the largest pavilions, which is a testament to the value the country puts to promoting bilateral economic relations," he added.

Al Saleh said the UAE is the largest Arab investor country in India, accounting for 81.2 percent of total Arab investments. The UAE investments into India's $2.8 trillion economy are estimated to be around $10 billion including foreign direct investment of almost $5 billion.

"The UAE hosts the largest Indian community overseas and their annual remittances are estimated to be more than $17 billion, which is 38 percent of the total outflow," he said.

"As both countries remain keen as ever to strengthen the trade dialogue, recently, an ambitious project - the India -UAE food corridor - was launched with the plan to benefit two million farmers and create an additional 200,000 jobs across India, due to cumulative investments of more than $7 billion by the UAE in the next three years," said Al Saleh.

During the forum, delegates brainstormed on new opportunities for partnerships with sessions on infrastructure, banking and finance, fin-tech, healthcare, food corridors, smart cities and start-ups. The UAE-India Economic Forum also felicitated government and industry leaders, who have worked towards nurturing ties between the two nations, with the Qadat Al Tagheer Awards.