The Hindu : Karnataka News : UAE is a big draw among investors

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

UAE is a big draw among investors

K. Satyamurty

BANGALORE: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) now has nearly 10,000 Indian companies operating, confirming its many attractions for overseas investors, Rashid Al Leem, Director-General of Sharjah Ports, Customs and Hamriyah Free Zone, has said.

“Hamriyah was developed in 1995. Its first foreign investor came in 1999 and now it is home to more than 2,000 companies and Indian enterprises number 400, many of them well-known brands,” he told members of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on Monday.

Among the facilities available were a 14-metre deep water port, a seven-metre inner harbour, special berths for tankers and easy access to the Sharjah International Airport. Pre-built warehouses of 276 to 614 sq m were readily available in the free zone that had grown in area from 12 million sq m to 24 million sq m, he said.

Hamriyah’s ISO 9000:14001 certification was based on its priority for environment-friendly industries. Licences were normally processed within one day and property could be leased up to 25 years with renewal options. Income and capital could be fully repatriated, there was no customs duty and industries could bring in their own workers. Residence visas and work permits were granted fairly fast and companies which wanted only office space could use the International Business Centre, he said. FKCCI president S.S. Patil said that the Union Commerce Ministry’s target of India reaching two per cent of world trade by 2009 would also depend on Indian businesses looking seriously at investment overseas.

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