DUBAI, 2 August 2007 — The UAE and India have strengthened trade relations to an extent that UAE’s trade with India currently trails only that of the US and China, said Colin Griffith, chairman, Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange.
“The top trade item between Dubai and India is gold. India is the second largest exporter of gold to Dubai, accounting for 13 percent. More importantly India is the largest importer of gold from Dubai; constituting 45 percent of all gold exports from Dubai” Griffith added.
Speaking at the 3rd International Gold Summit, held recently in New Delhi, Griffith said trade between both the countries had consistently grown over the years, with the latest available figures revealing that India exported $8.6 billion worth of goods to the UAE in 2006, while the UAE exported $4.3 billion worth of goods to India.
Placing the current trade relations between the two countries in the context of the long and rich history of contacts between the two regions, going back centuries, Griffith drew attention to the period in which Indian traders started coming to the Arabian Coast for dates and pearls in barter for textiles and spices.
“The several political and bilateral treaties signed recently between the two countries are in continuation of this long history. UAE is now India’s top trading partner in the entire Middle East/North Africa region. UAE alone accounts for 75 percent of India’s total exports to the six GCC countries,” he pointed out.
“Our partners in DGCX are leading Indian companies, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX) and Financial Technologies India Ltd. (FTIL). DGCX offers a number of attractive benefits to Indian companies, including access to global products and extended trading hours from 0830 hrs to 2330 hrs (GMT +4). There are many other advantages that make trading on DGCX an enticing proposition for Indian companies,” he explained.
“I believe this high level of gold trade can be increased farther if some changes are implemented in India, particularly the adoption of the “Dubai Good Delivery” gold accreditation scheme”, he said.
