Srinagar. While the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit is being held in Pakistan, a top business delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached Srinagar on March 20 to explore business opportunities to further strengthen ties with the union territory. . The delegation is on a visit to the Union Territory to assess business opportunities in the region at the invitation of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
The beginning of the year has seen a trading momentum, resulting in a significant trade agreement between the two countries.
The UT has received $2.5 billion (approximately Rs 18,568 crore) as investment, indicating the potential of the region in January 2022. The LG has indicated that the UT is expecting to attract an investment of Rs 70,000 crore in the next six months. This is a huge amount compared to the total investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the last 75 years of independence.
Following LG’s visit to Dubai this year, a 40-member UAE delegation representing 33 companies from the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia is participating in the four-day (March 20-23) visit.
Bal Krishna, CEO of Century Financial, is leading the delegation of Gulf traders along with the Saudi CEO. The delegation includes prominent businessmen from the real estate and commercial trading industries and this is the first time that Saudi investors have taken interest in J&K.
Jammu and Kashmir is now on the path of development and this region is now gaining momentum. Now assessment is being done about the investment and opportunities from the commercial tourism destination here. The Jammu and Kashmir administration will showcase investment opportunities to the delegation with a focus on the hospitality, tourism and entrepreneurship sectors. The delegation includes industrialists involved in the manufacture of cement, textiles, pharmaceuticals and fiber and cables. Hospitals, hotels, agro-industry, IT and horticulture development are also on priority in the list of delegations.
The UAE delegation is also meeting the Principal Secretary (Industry & Commerce), top officials of the J&K Administration as well as the Lieutenant Governor, to assist the UT with the global business scenario and the recent developments in the industry. After the abrogation of Article 370, investors are feeling comfortable to travel to UT and take business decisions. The GCC’s approach, particularly the keen interest of Emirati investors to capitalize on the investment potential of J&K, will foster confidence and open doors for European, American and Japanese investments.
The UAE’s intentions in J&K are evident through their genuine interest in the development of the UT as compared to the terror ideology of Pakistan, which operates under all terrorist schemes in the Valley. This meeting will destabilize Pakistan’s attempts to defame India in the OIC on the Kashmir issue.
On Monday, a dinner and a visit to Pari Mahal was organized by LG in Srinagar for the CEOs of the companies. To clear the misconception that Kashmir is an unsafe place, the group is visiting all corners of Kashmir as per their choice. Interaction with local traders was held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC) on Tuesday to take stock of the business environment. Negotiations are on for private investment for tourist destinations like Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonmarg. Pulwama and Pampore in South Kashmir are other gold mines where investors will be given 5,000 kanals of government land.
Not long ago, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a budget of Rs 1.12 lakh crore (US$ 13.33 billion) for Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha, aimed at rebuilding the economy and creating jobs in the region. On the other hand, if compared with the neighboring country, the annual budget of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 2021-22 was 141 billion Pakistani rupees, which was just 78.55 million US dollars. This means New Delhi has allocated almost five times more funds to Jammu and Kashmir than Islamabad’s grant to PoK.
The irony is that Islamabad, as we know it, is tarnishing India’s image with respect to Indian-administered Kashmir at the OIC summit, viewing PoK only as its own colony, with no visible signs of development. There are no signs, rather it is merely a breeding ground for training camps and a launchpad for terrorist organizations. The 40 lakh residents of PoK lack basic human facilities and have never been allowed to express their political and socio-economic grievances.
Just a short distance from PoK, J&K has already approved industrial investment proposals worth over Rs 26,000 crore and is expected to receive over Rs 70,000 crore investment in the next six months. Pakistani propaganda has always deceived people, especially Muslims and the rest of the world, by tricking them about the hypothetical bad state of Kashmir.
India is the second largest trading partner for the United Arab Emirates, while the United Arab Emirates is the third largest trading partner for India. In 2019-20, there was a foreign trade of about $ 60 billion (Rs 4,45,602 crore) between the two. The CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) is predicted to increase commerce between the two countries from $60 billion to $100 billion in the next 5 to 8 years. This is a testimony to the deep ties between the two nations.
At the Dubai Expo 2020, Jammu and Kashmir had signed six agreements in January 2022 to bring investments in the real estate, infrastructure, tourism and healthcare, manpower employment sectors of the region.
Dubai ports giant DP World has proposed to build an inland port in the UT as part of its commitment to invest in Jammu and Kashmir. These steps will have a very positive impact in the development of trade and commerce of Jammu and Kashmir.
—AnyTV News
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