UAE Chapter of UAE-India Business Council launched
Faizal Kottikollon is the Chairman of UIBC-UC
Abu Dhabi (UAE): The UAE-Indian business council has been established on the first anniversary of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) deal signed by India and the United Arab Emirates. The formation of the council is aimed at increasing investment and bilateral trade between the two countries.
The UAE India Business Council - UAE Chapter (UIBC-UC) was launched in Dubai by Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, in the presence of Ambassador of India to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir, Consul General of India in Dubai Dr. Aman Puri and founding members of the UIBC-UC.
“This is a very significant thing,” said Sunjay Sudhir. “We want to bring together their experience of doing business in both countries so as to further lubricate the investment and business corridor between both countries. They will discuss ideas on how to further generate trade and investment opportunities.”
(Faizal Kottikollon)
Prominent NRI entrepreneur Faizal Kottikollon is the chairman of the newly launched council. Faizal Kottikollon said the main purpose of the council was to build trust.
“In the past, several UAE companies have taken some poor decisions while investing in India because they were not confident to invest large amount of money,” he said. “We will act as a channel partner and a bridge. The basis of any business is trust. When you develop trust, everything becomes easier.” He was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.
With both countries growing rapidly, Faizal, who is the chairman of KEF Holdings, said this council was the need of the hour. “UAE has become the centre of the world after Covid,” he said. “India has got so much knowledge, but we need a lot of capital. UAE got a significant amount of capital. So, if you can marry these two things, it’s a powerhouse. What this council does is identifying projects in both the countries and bring investment through this channel.”
Faizal confirmed that there are several projects already in the pipeline. “We are very confident that there’ll be three large investments coming into India soon,” he said. “We will announce the details in due course of time, but I can assure you that it is indeed a very exciting time.”
The founding members of the UIBC-UC from the UAE side are Mubadala, Wizz Financial, DP World, Emaar, Emirates airline and Emirates NBD. From the Indian side, conglomerates such as Tata, Reliance, and Adani are represented, as well as tech innovators like OLA, Zerodha, Udaan, and EaseMyTrip, along with prominent Indian entrepreneur-led corporations based in the UAE such as KEF Holdings, Buimerc Corporation, Apparel Group, EFS and Lulu Financial.
Siddharth Balachandran, executive chairman and CEO of Buimerc Corporation Ltd said the UIBC-UC will further strengthen the growth of India-UAE relationship. “To channelise the various investments, we need channels like these,” he said. “It will add a layer of credibility and give investors a channel to verify investment opportunities.”
Rizwan Soomar, CEO & MD (India Subcontinent) at DP World, will serve as the Co-Chairman of UIBC-UC. Major General (Retd.) Sharafuddin Sharaf, who serves as the Chairman of the UIBC India Chapter, will also hold the position of Vice Chairman of UIBC-UC.
The council will have its office in Abu Dhabi and will be a pan-UAE body focusing on promoting trade and investment relations between the UAE and India. Membership to UIBC-UC will be by invitation only, and institutional members will be invited over time.
An India chapter of the business council was established in New Delhi in 2015 by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the late Sushma Swaraj, who was then Minister of External Affairs of India, during the 11th Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
