VIJAYAWADA: UAE Ambassador to India, Abdulnasser Alshaali, underscored Andhra Pradesh’s pivotal role in the UAE-India strategic partnership, advocating for enhanced people-to-people, economic, and investment ties. On Thursday, the UAE Embassy in Delhi, in collaboration with the UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC) and the Andhra Pradesh government, hosted an economic and investment roundtable in Vijayawada.
Alshaali emphasized the need to advance economic and investment collaboration between the UAE and Andhra Pradesh, noting the participation of over 10 major UAE companies at the roundtable as a testament to the state’s significance and the UAE’s commitment to its development goals. He stressed the importance of improving air connectivity between the UAE and Andhra Pradesh to boost engagement and investment, highlighting that UAE carriers could operate up to 35 direct flights per week to Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Tirupati. This would increase passenger traffic to Andhra Pradesh’s airports by over 500,000 annually.
The proposed direct flights are expected to enhance consumer choices, create economic opportunities for the people of Andhra Pradesh, and strengthen the state’s role as a key regional and international aviation hub.
Minister for Industries TG Bharath highlighted the state’s favorable business environment and expressed hopes for increased UAE investment. He reassured the UAE delegation that the current government is committed to addressing past issues and restoring investor confidence. “We will soon introduce a new industrial policy to regain the trust of investors,” he said, referencing past issues under the previous YSRC government.
Aljneibi, Director of the UICC, provided insights into the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and discussed opportunities for Andhra Pradesh’s business community to leverage this and other bilateral initiatives. Several UAE companies presented their investment plans for Andhra Pradesh and India as a whole.
Earlier, Ambassador Alshaali met with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to reaffirm the UAE Government’s commitment to deepening engagement with Andhra Pradesh across all aspects of the bilateral relationship. Andhra Pradesh is currently the UAE’s 11th largest trading partner among India’s 28 states and eight union territories, with total trade reaching USD 1.46 billion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.