India Global Forum, UAE edition, begins in Dubai

Dubai, Dec 13 (PTI) The two-day India Global Forum (IGF), UAE edition, kicked off here on Monday, as a bevy of top policymakers and business leaders gathered to discuss tech innovation, expansion of regional partnerships, growth frontiers and global climate concerns.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar were in attendance on the first day of the meet which is jointly hosted by India Inc. Group, the Consulate General of India in Dubai and the Embassy of UAE, New Delhi.

Apart from the Indian ministers, the other imminent speakers include UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar bin Sultan al Olama and Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed al Zeyoudi, CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant, and CEO of InvestIndia Deepak Bagla.

“The three Ts of trade, technology and tourism are the three areas we want our embassies all over the world to promote and these are the areas we need to give priority to,” Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on the occasion.

Shringla said the United States, Israel, the UAE, and India are a new quartet of economic construct.

We are taking forward what the best our four countries have to offer. It will be quite a unique partnership, he said.

Sunjay Sudhir, India’s newly-appointed ambassador to the UAE, said his team is excited about the round table on unicorns. In business, unicorns refer to start-ups which reach a valuation of over USD 1 billion.

All through the very difficult times of COVID-19, one category of people who have really sailed us through are the entrepreneurs, Sudhir said.

According to the official website, the IGF is the agenda-setting forum for international business and global leaders.

It offers a selection of platforms that international corporations and policymakers can leverage to interact with stakeholders in their sectors and geographies of strategic importance.