DMCC opens Mumbai office as trade grows

DMCC

A Dubai-based free zone has opened a new representative office in Mumbai. Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre (DMCC) is host to 3,700 Indian businesses and is seeking to capitalise on a rise of trade between the UAE and India since the signing of a bilateral agreement last year.

It announced the opening on Monday after concluding its Made For Trade Live roadshow in Mumbai, Surat and Jaipur last week. The event highlighted Dubai as a platform for Indian companies to expand internationally.

• India reaps early benefits from its trade deal with UAE
• It’s a date as UAE food firms target $35bn Indian market
• UAE reveals record-breaking non-oil trade figures

Bilateral trade between India and Dubai has increased by 14 percent to nearly $77 billion in the 11 months since the implementation of UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa).

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and CEO of DMCC, said: “DMCC has been fundamental in facilitating bilateral trade and investment between the UAE and India. Opening a representative office in Mumbai is the next pivotal step in this relationship’s evolution.”

DMCC held the roadshow in partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Senior DMCC executives addressed 500 Indian government bodies and business leaders from a range of sectors. 

DMCC’s representative office in Mumbai is led by industry veteran Siddharth Shah, a graduate of IIT-Bombay and Wharton Business School. It will handle all regulatory, compliance and company registrations while also providing licence packages for Indian businesses.

Strong relations

The UAE hosts the largest concentration of Indian nationals outside India. They make up 3.42 million of its total population of nearly 10 million.

Earlier this year, DMCC and the Bharat Subcontinent Agri Foundation signed an agreement to advance the global agricultural commodities sector between the UAE and South Asia. 

Estimates suggest that India’s exports to the UAE for the fiscal year 2022/23 will reach an all-time high of $32 billion.

India’s exports of gems and jewellery, automobiles, coffee, tea, and iron and steel all reported year-on-year growth for the period of June 2022 to February 2023.

The Cepa is expected to generate one million jobs in India’s export-oriented industries such as textiles, handloom, gems and jewellery, and leather and footwear.

The Gulf’s demand for Indian workers rebounded significantly last year, signalling the end of the coronavirus-induced reverse migration. 

An increase of nearly 50 percent in fresh migration to the six GCC members – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, as well as the UAE – was recorded in the first seven months of this year, compared with the whole of 2021.