Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, have discussed the means of consolidating the joint economic and trade co-operation between the UAE and Andhra Pradesh, by focussing on potential opportunities in the fields of innovation and advanced technology, along with infrastructure, logistical services, agriculture and aviation projects.

The meeting, which was held at the ministry’s headquarters in Dubai, was attended by Abdullah Al Fan, Assistant Under-Secretary for Industrial Affairs; Khalifa Al Qubaisi, Deputy Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development; Ahmed Al Falahi, UAE Trade Attache to India, and Mohammed Hamdan Nasser Al Zaabi, Director of the Trade Promotion and Investment Department at the Ministry. The Indian delegation included Yanamala Rama Krishundu, Minister of Finance and Planning in the State of Andhra Pradesh, and Navdeep Singh Suri, Ambassador of the Republic of India to the UAE, along with several senior officials and representatives of government authorities from the Indian state.

Both sides discussed the possibility of further developing their partnership and increasing mutual investments in several vital sectors, while benefiting from their current joint development projects.

The meeting also presented the outcomes of a visit by a senior UAE economic delegation, which was headed by Al Mansouri, to Andhra Pradesh at the start of the current year, and the resulting understanding and joint co-operation.

Al Mansouri highlighted the strength of the economic and trade ties between the UAE and India, which is reflected in the increasing volume of external trade and investment exchange between the two countries and the current diversity in their economic and trade co-operation, presenting an exceptional example of international relations.

Al Mansouri added that this mutual co-operation also includes the key sectors of infrastructures, energy, industry, trade, advanced technology, logistical services and financial services, along with aviation and air transport, which is reflected in India’s leading position on the list of the UAE’s trading partners, with the value of their non-oil trade exchange exceeding US$35.9 billion in 2016.