UAE has vast investment surplus and India has huge market, says Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: The UAE has enormous investment surplus while India has a huge market, and is an attractive destination, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

He said that both the countries have expertise, and can work together in areas such as sustainability, space technology, connectivity, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and data analytics.

"The UAE has a huge investment surplus in terms of investments ability, and India has a huge market which makes that an attractive destination, and therefore, we are not in competition with each other; rather, we complement each other. We are natural partners," Goyal said at the India-UAE Startup Forum 2022 here.

He said that the government acts only as a facilitator for startups, and it will help further strengthen the ecosystem.

"Today we are the third largest startup ecosystem, but our aspiration is to be the world's number one startup destination. The startup bug has caught India's imagination. The entire innovation ecosystem that the startup industry represents is giving a new direction, new momentum to India," he said.

India offers one of the best ecosystems for startups with a special 'jugalbandi' or blend between investors and entrepreneurs to get a balanced outcome and achieve a win-win solution for all, the minister said.

"I have seen tremendous response from the Dubai Expo where our startups have got the opportunity to raise finances, sign MoUs (Memorandum of Understandings) and get angel investments," he added.

About 700 startups have showcased their innovation at Expo2020 Dubai.

The minister also urged the startups to take their story to remote places, villages, small towns, northeastern India and other regions as well.

Subhashis Kar, the founder of Techbooze Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd said, "India's third-largest trading partner is the United Arab Emirates. In 2020-21, bilateral trade between India and the UAE was valued at USD 43.3 billion. In 2020-21, exports totaled USD 16.7 billion, while imports totaled USD 26.7 billion. This demonstrates the depth of the relationship between the two countries."