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dialogues have been successful. Over the past three years, Investopia Global Talks travelled to
more than 11 global strategic markets, presenting a series of effective and distinct debates and
sessions on economic and investment opportunities in emerging markets, and offering an
interactive platform that brought together senior leaders, economic players, investors and
entrepreneurs at the local, regional and global levels.

He added that the UAE and India share the vision of embracing a new and sustainable economic
model, which underscores Investopia’s key role in promoting and supporting the achievement of
this vision in the government and private sectors of the two countries.

The UAE and India are among the fastest growing economies, with the UAE’s non-oil GDP growing
by 6.2 percent in 2023 compared to that of 2022, ranking 5th globally in the real GDP growth index.
Meanwhile, India's GDP grew by 8.4 percent in the last three months of 2023. These figures reflect
the momentum of growth of economic opportunities in the two countries' markets during the next
phase, given their outstanding economic partnership.

Bin Touq said, "We introduced the inaugural Investopia Global Talks in India in 2021, hosting two
sessions in Mumbai and New Delhi. Today, we are launching a new milestone in the South Indian
city of Chennai, highlighting the significance we attach to the Indian private sector as a key
economic and investment partner to the UAE’s business sector. This has great relevance
considering there were over 232,000 Indian commercial licences operating in various economic
sectors and activities within the UAE's markets as of the end of H1 2024. In this, 20,000 Indian
commercial licences were registered during the first six months of this year alone."

"The choice of Chennai, India as the venue for the Investopia Global Talks is driven by its strong
economic foundation in new and innovative sectors like electric vehicles, programming, medical
tourism, sustainable manufacturing, data centres, and the development of fintech sector. This
establishes Chennai as a key hub for fostering attractive investment prospects in these sectors,
which are crucial to the UAE private sector to explore and capitalise on. The Indian government has
set an ambitious target for Chennai to achieve a trillion-dollar economy by 2030 through
sustainable sectors and initiatives, cutting-edge innovations, e-commerce, and the upskilling of
talent," he added.

Alia Abdullah Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, said, "Under the directives of its
wise leadership, the UAE attaches significant importance to developing the SMEs sector, which is a
key partner in fostering the growth and sustainability of the national economy. SMEs today make up
94 percent of all private sector companies in the UAE and contribute 40 percent to the UAE's GDP.”
She emphasised that the Ministry of Economy has set a target of raising the number of SMEs
operating in the country's markets to one million by 2030. This objective aims to support the
increase of the UAE's GDP to AED3 trillion within the next decade, aligning with the goals outlined in
the 'We the UAE 2031' vision.

"This edition of Investopia marks a new step in fueling SME sector growth in both the UAE and India.
Its purpose is to shed light on the opportunities and enablers available to entrepreneurs and
startups in both countries, while also motivating them to invest in new economic sectors," she
added.

https://wam.ae/en/article/141a6s3-investopia-global-talks-launched-indias-chennai