India, Dubai hit the ground running as trade partners

The trading ties between India and Dubai are clearly on the upswing. The numbers tell the story themselves. In the first quarter of the current year, India was right on the top of Dubai’s direct trade partner list, with bilateral transactions hovering at over $44.3 billion (63 billion dirhams). This makes up 34 percent of Dubai’s total direct trade with the world, which explains India’s hallowed position.

The reverse holds true, too. For India, Dubai has remained its top trading destination for the last three fiscal years. It overtook the US and China to reach that mark in 2008-09.

[caption id=“attachment_33725” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was in India on a 2-day visit, to boost trade relations between the two countries. Reuters”]  [/caption]

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Earlier this week, UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was in India on a 2-day visit, in a bid to boost trade relations between the two countries.

In 2010-11, the UAE remained the largest importer of gold jewellery, precious and semi-precious gems from India, accounting for 47 percent of the total Indian exports in the segment.

According to Dubai Customs figures released on Tuesday, China and the US came in second and third on the list 0f countries exporting to Dubai, at $ 2.9 billion (10.68 billion dirhams) and$ 2.04 billion (7.52 billion dirhams), respectively.

In the export sweepstakes for Dubai, Switzerland took the second slot, followed by Saudi Arabia. Dubai’s imports from India reached $8.16 billion (30billion dirhams) whereas the value of re-exports from Dubai to India was estimated at $6.17 billion (22.68 billion dirhams). The value of goods and products exported to India stood at over $ 2.72 billion (10 billion dirhams).

Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Dubai Customs director general, said the statistics issued by the end of the first three months of this year showed a rise in the weight of exchanged goods in Dubai’s direct trade with the world, with the total volume going up to 11.92 million tonnes against 10.25 million tonnes in the same period last year, a jump of 16 percent.

The Dubai Customs has talked of a new record growth rate of 34 percent of Dubai direct trade exchange with the world by the end of the first annual quarter of 2011. This year, it exceeded$49 billion (183 billion dirhams), compared to$37 billion (136 billion dirhams) for the same period last year.

The Dubai Customs thinks that the Emirate of Dubai will continue to achieve similar growth in coming months. Ahmed Butti said the increase in the value of Dubai’s direct trade reflects growing improvement in the economic movement in the Arab state and promising investment opportunities.

He pointed out that the growth has largely been driven by the weight of the goods and products issued by Dubai to the international markets, which exceeded 23 percent, that is over 2 million tonnes, by the end of the first three months of the current year compared to 1.7 million tonnes for the year-ago period.

“The achieved growth indicators highlight a sustainable economic growth in Dubai and a clear emphasis on the product value-added sectors in boosting the GDP per capita, luxury and diversify income resources. The growth accompanied all walks related to the direct trade exchange, which besides exports included re-exporting and importing,” Ahmed Butti signed off.

With inputs from PTI