Dubai Chamber Trade Mission to India’s Diamond Hub

A Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry delegation recently visited ‘Sparkle 2011’ a diamond trade exhibition held in Surat, the north western city known as India’s diamond hub. The official visit also helped the delegation to lay the groundwork for a Dubai trade mission’s visit coming up later in the year. The pre-mission visit, which was led by Mr Hassan Al Hashemi, Director, External Relations, Dubai Chamber, came on the heels of an official business delegation’s visit from the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) last year.

Mr Al Hashemi who met Mr Rohit Mehta, Chairman, SGCCI, thanked the host Chamber official for his assistance in the delegation’s feasibility study visit. The two officials discussed ways of strengthening trade ties, especially in the diamond and textile sectors, in line with Dubai Chamber’s efforts to support the development of businesses and to boost their competitiveness in new and productive global markets.

As a guest of honour at the final session of the Sparkle 2011 exhibition, Mr Al Hashemi stressed on the strong trade ties between the business communities in Dubai and India, and highlighted the Indian companies’ contribution to Dubai’s economic growth. He also pointed out the advanced trade, infrastructural and logistics facilities offered by Dubai to its international investors looking to establish business in the Emirate while also seeking to reach out to the regional and African markets. The External Relations Director informed about the purpose of the visit which he said was to make preparations for an upcoming Dubai trade mission which will explore investment opportunities in Surat in line with Dubai Chamber’s efforts to explore lucrative trade destinations for its members.

He also pointed out that through their site visits of the diamond and textile industries, the Dubai Chamber delegation was able to identify potential areas of cooperation which will help the Dubai trade mission to consolidate trade ties with their Indian counterparts. On his part, Mr Rohit Mehta welcomed the idea of the Dubai trade mission’s visit to the city and assured the delegation all help to make the mission a very successful one in line with its objectives of gaining an understanding of Surat’s investment environment and business opportunities.