The number of Indians living in the UAE has crossed 3.5 million, with more than 130,000 making the move since the end of last year, new figures show.
India's Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, announced the latest migration numbers at a session of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the country's parliament, on Saturday.
He revealed 3.554 million Indians currently reside in the Emirates, up from 3.419 million at the end of 2022.
He said the UAE remained the most popular destination for Indian citizens seeking work overseas.
The Gulf region continues to attract an influx of Indian talent, with a total of 7.93 million living in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman alone.
The Indian government has established Overseas Indian Help Centres in Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuala Lumpur to help meet the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce, he said in remarks carried by state news agency Wam on Sunday.
As India prepares to mark its 77th Independence Day on Tuesday, concerns persist over whether the exodus of professionals to other countries amounts to a 'brain drain' that could slow the 1.4 billion-strong nation's development.
Mobile labour market
Mr Muraleedharan, on a visit to Dubai in January, hailed globe-trotting Indians for making the world their workplace.
“You can work anywhere you like but have India in your heart,” he said in an address to more than 1,000 pupils at the Indian High School in Dubai.
“Earlier, Indians who received education in India but went abroad for work were termed "brain drain". We no longer use that word for the phenomenon now," Mr Muraleedharan said.
“We say Indian youth have transformed the whole world into their workplace.
“So, you may have received your education in India or you are studying in Dubai, always uphold the tradition of vasudeva kutumbakam (the world is one family).”
Long-standing friendship
The UAE and India have sought to deepen their strategic partnership over recent years, bolstering trade as well as cementing ties in culture, the labour sector and education.
In February 2022, the allies signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that is expected to boost non-oil trade between the two countries to $100 billion in five years, from $60bn currently.
The agreement marked a new phase of co-operation and aims to open additional avenues of investment and trade for companies in India and the UAE.
It would add 1.7 per cent or $8.9bn to the UAE's gross domestic product and boost exports by 1.5 per cent or $7.6bn by 2030, said Abdulla bin Touq, UAE Minister of Economy, in an online joint press conference in New Delhi at the time, which was attended by top government officials from both countries.
The 881-page agreement lifted 80 per cent of tariffs on UAE and India goods, while all tariffs will be removed within 10 years, said Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visited to the UAE in July, in a further demonstration of the close links binding the countries.
It was the fifth visit of Mr Modi to the UAE after he assumed office in 2014.
India’s prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, better known as IIT, will begin courses in Abu Dhabi next year, the country's envoy to the UAE confirmed in February.
Sunjay Sudhir, Indian ambassador to the UAE, outlined details about the IIT’s first campus outside India.
There are 23 IITs in India and the institute is famous for producing graduates ranked among the world’s most successful innovators, engineers and entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi's long-awaited Hindu temple will open in Abu Dhabi in February after four years of meticulous work on the striking place of worship by artisans in India and the UAE.
Spread over 5.4 hectares, the land was given to the Indian community in 2015 by President Sheikh Mohamed, who then served as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
Company%20profile
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
'Ashkal'
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March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
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