Overview
UAE launched several initiatives during the month in a variety of sectors to boost the economy which, inter-alia, include launch of second phase of Etihad Rail Network, permission for construction of two additional nuclear power reactors in UAE, and grants of licneses for solar power generation. In addition, Emirate of Dubai unveiled its intent to spend US$32 billion on airport expansion plan. In the bilateral arena, a HSBC’s report indicated that India will be UAE’s top trade destination by 2030. ‘Make in India’ launch event was successfully concluded during the month which witnessed the participation of leading luminaries from the Indian diasporas in the UAE, along with prominent Emirati and foreign country dignitaries. In addition, a high-level delegation from Gujrat visited UAE to explore various areas of bilateral cooperation. Several exhibitions and seminars are scheduled in next couple of months across UAE which Indian exporters may harness to further advance the bilateral trade between the two nations.
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INSIDE THE NATION
Etihad Rail to launch second phase of network.
UAE railway developer Etihad Rail is reportedly set to secure government funding and award contracts to build the second phase of its US $11 billion national rail network. The second phase of the UAE railway project, which at 628km is the longest of the three planned stages, is expected to be funded by the UAE federal government. The Phase 2 project will connect the Mussafah port and industrial area and ports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with the Saudi and Omani borders.
FANR authorises construction of two additional nuclear power reactors in UAE.
The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) of the UAE has authorised the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) to begin building two additional nuclear power reactors at the Barakah site in the Western Region of the Abu Dhabi Emirate. The License for the construction of Units Three and Four of the Barakah Nuclear Facility and Related Regulated Activities was approved by the FANR Board of Management at its meeting. The license authorizes ENEC to construct two additional Korean-designed, advanced pressurised water reactors of the type known as the APR1400, each capable of producing 1,400 megawatts of electricity.
Abu Dhabi Grants Licenses For Solar Power Generation.
Abu Dhabi has granted a number of licences to generate solar power at test sites across the emirate, the Regulation and Supervision Bureau has announced. The institutions that have been granted the licenses to begin generating electricity through solar include schools, the Abu Dhabi Judiciary and Al Ain Zoo. The authority said that an additional 28 licenses-mostly for schools falling under the Abu Dhabi Educational Council- are being processed. The installations are set to allow customers to meet their own power needs and supply any excess electricity generated back into the broader grid, the bureau said. Abu Dhabi also published wiring regulations that will allow private property owners to generate their own electricity through solar power.
UAE announces new visa policy to boost medical tourism.
The UAE recently announced an amended visa policy with new options specifically introduced for medical tourists. Under the new rules, a medical treatment visa costs Dhs550, with a multiple entry visa priced at Dhs1,400 and a visa for a patient’s escort also priced at Dhs1,400. The move is part of the UAE’s and specifically Dubai’s strategy of becoming a medical tourism hub within the next few years. The emirate aims to attract up to 500,000 people per year for medical tourism by 2020.
UAE delegation concludes US visit.
A UAE delegation led by Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, concluded its tour of the US. During a week-long tour, UAE delegation met representatives of more than 200 American companies. Sectors such as aviation, logistics, small and medium enterprises and healthcare got special attention during the visit.
Siemens hands over Shuweihat S3 Power Plant in Abu Dhabi.
German conglomerate Siemens has handed over a combined cycle power plant in Abu Dhabi to begin commercial operations, the company said in a statement. The work on Shuweihat S3 combined cycle power plant was carried out in partnership with its Korean consortium Daewoo. The Shuweihat S3 plant is owned by Shuweihat Asia Power Company, a consortium comprising of Sumitomo Corporation of Japan, the Korea Electric Power Corporation and local utility Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA). Situated approximately 260 kilometres west of Abu Dhabi, the power plant has an installed electrical capacity of 1,600 megawatts and will be operated by Shuweihat Asia O&M Company (SAOM), the statement said. Siemens was the consortium leader for the project as it supplied four gas turbines, two steam turbines, six generators and the instrumentation and control system for the plant. Deawoo was responsible for the site construction, heat recovery steam generators and main transformers along with ancillary and auxiliary system.
Dubai to spend US$32 billion on airport expansion plan.
Dubai will spend US$32 billion on expanding its second airport to handle over 200 million people annually next decade, roughly triple the current level of passenger traffic through the emirate, airport authorities said. The expansion could allow Dubai’s fast-growing flagship carrier Emirates to shift its operations to the new facility by the mid-2020s, airport officials said.
Dubai shortlists 8 Firms for clean Coal Plant.
Dubai has short-listed eight companies to build a 1200 MW clean coal power plant, UAE officials said. It is a part of a US$20 billion investment that aims to help to diversify the Gulf Arab emirate’s energy mix by 2030. Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), produces very little oil and relies on costly imports of gas to satisfy its growing energy consumption. State utility Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has also put out a tender for the construction of a 100-megawatt independent solar power project (IPP), part of the emirate’s 2030 energy strategy. DEWA also plans to expand its existing power production and desalination plant, known as the M-Station, to add about 600MW of extra capacity. DEWA has short-listed 24 companies for its 100 MW solar project and hopes to evaluate bids by the end of October.
BILATERAL RELATIONS
Trade Promotional Activities.
The Embassy disseminated information on the Buyer Seller Meets/Reverse BSMs being organized by Export Promotion Councils/Trade Bodies in India and facilitated participation of interested companies in these events.
Important Meetings of Ambassador.
During the month under report, Ambassador held meetings with several prominent UAE dignitaries which, interalia, include Chairman of TAQA, Executive Officer of TAQA, and Undersecretary of Crown Prince Court. Ambassador visited Etihad Airways Innovation Center in Abu Dhabi and inaugurated Morrison Menon Middle East HQ in Dubai. In addition, he held several senior-level meetings which, among others, include with CEO and MD of LIC International Bahrain, MD of IOC ME FZE, Regional Manager of BHEL, MD of State Bank of Hyderabad, CEO of D.C. Books, MD and Director of BLK Super-specialty hospital, Regional Manager of Air India, representative from FGB, and DG of ITEC. He attended ‘Make in India’ launch campaign in Dubai.
During the month, Ambassador also attended the launch of IRENA’s first institutional publication ‘Rethinking Energy’ and a discussion about the ‘Transformation of the Global Energy System’ at its headquarter in Abu Dhabi.In addition, he attended 27th Annual Conference of Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, 7th Anniversary of Jai Hind TV in Dubai and 12th Edition of International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
India-UAE bilateral Trade declined by 9 percent during April-July 2014.
The bilateral trade between India and UAE has witnessed 9.11 percent decline during April-July 2014 as compared to same period during last year. The total bilateral trade has been recorded at US$ 20.20 billion during first 4 months of current FY. However, it was US$ 22.23 billion during the same period last year. India’s export to UAE has actually grown by 13.51 percent from US$ 9.90 billion to US$ 11.24 billion. However, the import has shrunk by 27.29 percent from US$ 12.32 billion to US$ 8.96 billion. This is largely on account of steep fall in import of Pearls, Precious or Semi-precious stones and metals from UAE. The import has declined by a whopping 57.20 percent from US$ 6.55 billion to US$ 2.80 billion during the period from April-July 2014 as compared to same period during last year. It has also impacted our export of Pearls, Precious or Semi-precious stones and metals to UAE which has shrank by 18.26 percent. The high import duty of 10 percent, imposed in 2013 in order to curb CAD, is clearly impacting the bilateral trade in this sector. However, it may be noted that, as per several reports and statements by gold industry officials, illegal trade of gold has increased manifold during recent times.
‘Make in India’ launch event.
Indian Consulate in Dubai and Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi jointly organized an event in Dubai Consulate for live web telecast of launch of ‘Make in India’ campaign by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India via video conferencing. Leading luminaries from the Indian diasporas in the UAE, along with prominent Emirati and foreign country dignitaries, participated in the event.
Visit of Gujarat Delegation to UAE.
Adelegationled by Mr. BB Swain, MD, GIDC, visited UAE for a road show to promoteVibrant GujaratSummit to be held from 11 – 13 Jan 2015 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This was second leg of their tour that began with Qatar. On 7th September, thedelegationinteracted with Indian investors over Lunch and Dinnerorganized by IBPC Dubai and on 8ththey met with adelegationfrom Dubai Chamber of Commerce where various avenues of trade promotion betweenGujaratand Dubai were discussed.
Study Tour of IIFT Students.
A group of MBA students from IIFT, Delhi along with their professor visited UAE from 22- 25 September, 2014 for a study tour on port and freezones operations in UAE. They visited the Saqr Port in Ras Al Khaimah and further met young entrepreneurs from textile industry and Gems & Jewellery Group in Dubai. They also visited KIZAD and gained useful insights on operation and management of Industrial zones.
India to be UAE's top trade destination by 2030.
India is forecast to be the UAE's top export and import destination by 2030, according the latest HSBC Trade Forecast. In addition to India, the fastest growing export markets for the UAE will be China, Malaysia, Turkey - each of which will see the fastest growth rates between 2017 and 2030. Import growth will be fastest for goods originating from China, India, Turkey and Vietnam.
Gulf Petrochem acquires Shell’s bitumen plant in India.
UAE-based Gulf Petrochem announced its acquisition of the Royal Dutch Shell Specialties Bitumen plant at Savli, near Vadodara in Gujarat. The acquisition, through a direct purchase, will complement the construction of a high capacity storage terminal for various petroleum products at Pipavav in Gujarat. Gulf Petrochem will begin to manufacture 30,000 MT per annum of Bitumen Specialty products that includes Bitumen Emulsions, Micro-surfacing Emulsions, Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen, Polymer Modified Bitumen and various other Cold Mix road construction products. The company will also upgrade the plant to manufacture Bitumen products that adhere to new specifications laid down by Indian Roads Congress.
Dubai delegation woos India Inc to invest in DWC Business park.
A delegation from Dubai visited India to attract Indian companies to invest in the Dubai World Central Business Park, set to be world's first integrated and self-sustained economic zone. The Business Park offers swift business facilitation, where companies can set up offices within 10 days. To attract Indian businesses, roadshows was conducted in three Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The state-of-the-art DWC Business Park caters to new companies setting up business in the UAE, particularly those coming from the growing small and medium enterprises (SME) sector in India and around.
India’s Suba Hotel enters UAE, aims to add 500 rooms in GCC.
India’s Suba Group of Hotels has forayed in to the UAE and plans to expand to other Gulf countries over the next three years. The company opened its first property - a 4-star 92-room hotel – in the region in Dubai .
India's Hazel to build US$126 million cargo facility in Sharjah.
Indian-owned Hazel International will reportedly invest US$126.45 million to open a facility that will provide liquid and solid cargo handling at Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) in Sharjah. The group, owned by Veritas (India) Limited, inaugurated the terminal project which will store chemicals, petrochemicals, base oils, bitumen, vegetable oil, gases, liquified gases, ethanol, bio-fuels, edible oils. Besides storage, the terminal will provide facilities like distillation, extraction, hydrogenation and fractionation.
Sharjah Emirated conducted roadshows in India to attract tourists.
The UAE emirate Sharjah launched an India Road Show from Sep 15-22 in Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore to attract Indian tourists. The 2014 road show in India was hosted by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority in cooperation with Air Arabia airline and Sharjah's hotel and tourism industry. It may be noted that Sharjah received more than 123,010 visitors from India last year, registering a whopping 41 percent growth over the previous year. These numbers are expected to grow steeply in the months and years ahead.
Trade Enquiries.
About 82 trade enquiries were received during the month.
Trade Disputes.
No trade dispute has been received during the month.
MARKET WATCH
GCC Firms Commit Investments worth US$19 billion in West Africa.
Companies from across the Gulf have committed investments worth US$19 billion in various infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, airports and energy across eight West African countries, according to West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The projects, announced at the West Africa Investment Forum, will be executed as private public partnerships between the governments of the UEMOA members and international firms, a statement said. Major investments from the UAE included a commitment of US$16 billion by Trojan General Contracting, which is part of the group owned by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and investment firm Earth Capital. Meanwhile, Essar Projects, the UAE subsidiary of Essar Group, will invest up to US$1.98 billion in road, bridge, airport and thermal power plant projects in Benin, Guinea Bissau and Niger.
Dana Gas wins gas exploration deals in Egypt.
Dana Gas has won two blocks in the Nile Delta in Egypt. The company has well-established operations in Egypt, with 25 discoveries on more than a dozen development leases.
Masdar buys stake in one of the world’s biggest offshore wind farms.
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, has bought a stake in off the UK’s Norfolk coast. Masdar invested £525 for a 35 per cent stake in the £1.5bn Dudgeon project, the UK government said. Construction of the wind farm, which is set to have a capacity of 402 megawatts, enough to power about 410,000 homes, is scheduled to be completed in late 2017. Masdar will partner with the state-owned Norwegian energy firm Statoil, which retains a 35 per cent stake in the project and will operate the farm. The remaining 30 per cent is held by Statkraft, Norway’s state-owned electricity firm.
Mohd Shahid Alam
Second Secretary (E&C)
For further information on UAE economic indicators, bilateral trade figures, nature of trade enquiries handled, and scheduled exhibitions/seminars in UAE please see the annexure.
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India-UAE total trade for the last 4 years
Value in US$ MillionS. No. / Year / 2010-2011 / 2011-2012 / 2012-2013 / 2013-14 / 2014-15 (Apr-Jun)
1 / EXPORT / 33,822.39 / 35,925.52 / 36,316.65 / 30,497.93 / 8,527.62
2 / %Growth / 41.1 / 6.22 / 1.09 / -16.02
3 / IMPORT / 32,753.16 / 36,756.32 / 39,138.36 / 29,114.18 / 6,656.59
4 / %Growth / 67.97 / 12.22 / 6.48 / -25.61
5 / TOTAL TRADE / 66,575.55 / 72,681.84 / 75,455.01 / 59,612.11 / 15,184.21
6 / %Growth / 53.15 / 9.17 / 3.82 / -21
7 / TRADE BALANCE / 1,069.22 / -830.80 / -2,821.71 / -1,383.75 / 1,871.03
Source : DGCIS, Kolkata
India’s top 10 Exports to UAE:
Values in US$ Million
S. No. / HS Code / Commodity / 2012-2013 / 2013-20141 / 71 / Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones, pre.-metals,clad with pre-metal and articles thereof; imitation jewellery ;coin. / 18,890.69 / 12,778.80
2 / 27 / Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes / 6,964.32 / 5,048.31
3 / 89 / Ships, boats and floating structures. / 686.81 / 1,068.36
4 / 88 / Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof. / 16.8 / 1,060.36
5 / 85 / Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts. / 903.61 / 1,032.57
6 / 62 / Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted / 792.64 / 947.92
7 / 73 / Articles of iron or steel / 723.76 / 792.52
8 / 61 / Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or corcheted. / 642.64 / 789.82
9 / 84 / Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof. / 802.12 / 636.22
10 / 10 / Cereals. / 571.82 / 561.02
India’s total exports to UAE / 36,316.65 / 30,497.93
India’s top 10 Imports from UAE
Values in US$ Million
S. No. / Hs code / Commodity / 2012-2013 / 2013-20141 / 27 / Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes. / 14,984.68 / 13,266.99
2 / 71 / Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones, pre.-metals,clad with pre-metal and articles thereof; imitation jewellery ;coin. / 20,376.74 / 11,984.63
3 / 74 / Copper and articles thereof. / 450.81 / 681.61
4 / 89 / Ships, boats and floating structures. / 488.06 / 569.55
5 / 72 / Iron and steel / 560.3 / 460.69
6 / 76 / Aluminium and articles thereof. / 371.22 / 427.86
7 / 39 / Plastic and articles thereof. / 371.28 / 342.14
8 / 25 / Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement. / 288.27 / 308.83
9 / 99 / Miscellaneous goods. / 173.23 / 182.9
10 / 84 / Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof. / 193.53 / 95.34
India’s total imports from UAE / 39,138.36 / 29,114.18
Source : DGCIS, Kolkata.