The UAE and India will sign a number of agreements strengthening their historical trade relationship next week during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the Emirates.
Between 12 and 14 agreements related to finance, education, training and information exchange sectors, will be reached, the UAE ambassador to India, Ahmed Al Banna, said on Tuesday.
“We have a historical trade relationship with India and over the past years it has diversified from oil and gas into new sectors like IT, space technology, defence manufacturing, security and renewable energy,” he said.
Security is a key feature of the cooperation, with the ambassador saying the two countries are working closely "in fighting terrorism, extremists and terrorist organisations".
Bilateral trade has grown from US$182 million in the 1980s to $53 billion in the year 2016-17.
Mr Modi will sign the agreements on Sunday, after which he will head to Dubai where he is the keynote speaker at the World Government Summit.
He will address the Indian community at the Dubai Opera the next day.
A request has also been made for the exemption of visas for UAE nationals when they travel to India, which would follow similar recent moves by China and Ireland.
Currently, UAE citizens can apply for e-visas that are processed in less than 24 hours and allow for entry at 14 Indian airports.
As part of the easing of requirements for Indians entering the UAE, Indians with US, UK or European visas or residencies can obtain a visa on arrival.
Re-negotiation of the air services agreement between the two countries, set to discuss increasing flights and routes, is yet to take place after a meeting was cancelled due to technical reasons.
As per a clause in the existing air services agreement, when capacity on routes between the UAE and India reaches 85 per cent, quotas that are shared between air carriers in both countries should be re-negotiated.
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UAE carriers have reached 100 per cent of their passenger quota and more than 55 per cent of Indians who travel outside of India travel via UAE airports, the ambassador said.
New Delhi is currently marking Abu Dhabi Week, which will also be launched in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, on Wednesday to encourage investment in the UAE.
The heads of 134 firms are in India for meetings with businesses and investors.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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Install an air filter in your home.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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