India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal, joined the India Global Forum (IGF) UAE edition this week to reveal that a comprehensive trade partnership between the two countries is on course to be one of the fastest ever finalised.
“The agreement we are working on will truly be a win-win for both countries,” declared minister Goyal, in his address at IGF UAE.
His counterpart in Dubai, H.E. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Government of UAE, joined the discussions on stage and concurred with the spirit of the ongoing negotiations, adding: “We are very excited about the comprehensive agreement with India and with Minister Piyush Goyal positivity, we look forward to taking our partnership forward.”
Addressing the session on “Boosting Trade Ties to the Next Level”, Goyal noted: “India is proceeding very rapidly towards expansion in the areas of trade and partnership. We have very ambitious targets ahead of us and we have the desire to bring prosperity to 1.3 billion Indians.
“UAE is one of our largest trading partners and therefore it was very natural for us to look at bringing together businesses and investors of both the countries.”
The session concluded a power-packed Day One of addresses by senior lawmakers and influential business heads.
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Addressing a session entitled “Dynamic Alliances – For a Smarter and Healthier Tomorrow”, Mansukh Mandaviya, India’s Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemical and Fertilizers, said: “For India, healthcare and pharma have always been about Sewa rather than business. We stepped forward to help the World as one family at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic.
“India is the pharmacy of the world and it has a large capacity to manufacture, medical devices, medicines, and vaccines. The medical device sector is a rapidly growing sector in India and it has all the incentives to attract major global investment.”
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary, Government of India, participated in a closed-door Diplomacy for Business Roundtable on geostrategies and global trade before delivering his special address at the Forum.
Foreign Secretary Shringla said: “The partnership between India and UAE is guided by visionary leadership in both the countries. Despite the COVID pandemic, India and UAE have continued to work closely together. We are looking to further this partnership in terms of cutting edge technology, financing, among other areas of cooperation.”
During the course of a busy Day One, the Global Disruptors Series brought on to the stage a series of inspiring entrepreneurs and business chiefs, who traced the journey of their businesses which are today among some of the world’s best known Unicorns.
Anchit Nayar, CEO, Beauty & E-Commerce, Nykaa, reflected: “India is a massive market, and we will continue to cater to it. We are very proud of our brand and how it has grown. As a business, we need to understand the requirements of the consumer, and this will continue to be our aim. At Nykaa, we are more focused on building business- numbers, market cap and we have to do our job without expecting anything.”
Ananth Sankaranarayanan, Founder, Mensa Brands Technologies, said: "Unicorn is a mythical animal, I do not worry about the valuation. What matters is focusing on the execution and the consumer.
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“The consumers in UAE and India, while different, are very similar and hence there is opportunity to build global brands. There is also opportunity for capital flows in both directions."
*Info: India Global Forum