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Technology, start-ups can double India-UAE trade to $200bln: Forum

Technology, innovation, start-ups and fin-techs could help accelerate the Indo-UAE relations to $200 billion in the next few years, said a senior Indian diplomat at a conference, titled Innovators and Investors Series, organised by the Indian People’s Forum in Dubai.

India’s bilateral trade with the UAE reached $101.25 billion, marking the second consecutive year exceeding the $100 billion milestone. 

India's exports to the UAE exceeded $37.35 billion, making the UAE India's second-largest export destination and third-largest trading partner overall. India's imports from the UAE stood at $63.89 billion, with India ranking as the UAE's second-largest trading partner. Both nations have agreed to double bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032.

“As the India-UAE bilateral trade exceeded the US$100 billion level, we now need to start creating new avenues of cooperation to double this to US$200 billion in the next few years,” Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, Indian Consul General in Dubai and Northern Emirates, said.

“We can see the next US$100 billion growth coming from innovation, technology, start-ups, fin-techs, renewable energy, defence and space technology.”

India has over 797,230 startups, making it the third-largest startup hub globally. Of these, 35,500 are funded companies that have collectively raised $683 billion in venture capital and private equity. The country is home to 93 unicorns. A total of 121,969 investors have participated in 53,521 funding rounds, with 3,136 startups securing early-stage funding and 918 raising late-stage funding.

In the last five years, 113,624 new companies have been founded, raising over $13.9 billion in funding. Startups in India have witnessed 5,347 acquisitions and 6,531 IPOs, while 108,614 startups wrapped up operations. Additionally, 23,719 companies have been founded by women.

The Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) platform has crossed 660,000+ users. Startups have generated over IN₹51,000+ crore in orders via the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), Dr Reddy said.

The conference showcased two startups – JE Plus Healthcare and University Living – both seeking investment to scale up business and become global enterprises. JE Plus Healthcare is solving the distribution and logistics affecting the delivery of healthcare products across India while University Living helps students find cost-effective student accommodation in different parts of the world.

“In order to doubling our bilateral trade with the UAE, we need to create new partnerships including investment in start-ups, as India has become a breeding ground for star-ups and fin-techs who would require investment to scale up business to become global enterprises. In this case the UAE’s business leaders and investors could help cement the partnerships and help accelerate the bilateral trade to US$200 billion level,” Dr Reddy stressed.

Famous Bollywood actor and an investor Vivek Oberoi said while everyone celebrates success, it is equally important to celebrate failure. “We celebrate success a lot. But we should also celebrate failure as well as it is the lessons from failure that gives us success. I have my share of failures as well,” he said.

“I have invested in 35 companies, some of them didn’t do so well. But we made up with those which did well. The UAE’s investors and institutional capital could unleash exponential possibilities by investing in Indian start-ups and help them become large global businesses.”

Jitendra Vaidya, National President of IPF, said: “The Indo-UAE relationship has reached a strategic level where two-way investment will further cement the bonding with greater benefit for both the countries. We are here to bring our diaspora to align ourselves to make sure that we contribute to the growth of the UAE-India relationship for the greater good of both the countries.”

Mahesh Advani, Convenor of IPF Business Council, said: “We urge UAE’s investors to support the Indian start-ups in a bigger way and become part of this new growth engine and enjoy the higher return on investment from these start-ups."

Piyush Jhunjhunwala, Co-Convenor of IPF Business and Professional Council and Founder of Stockify, said: “Indian businessmen, business leaders and investors will have to look at increasing their investment in start-ups, fin-techs, especially those powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotics. By intelligent investment, they can not only multiply their wealth, but also contribute to the society and the country and help the start-ups create employment and become global unicorns.”