Dubai commodities centre of UAE holds road show in Kolkata

Kolkata, Oct 4 : Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a free zone in the United Arab Emirates, held a road show in the city on Wednesday to show prospects and encourage companies from the eastern India to invest in the Gulf state.

"This is the first time we are hosting a road show in Kolkata to promote DMCC in this region and also the corridor between Middle East and Eastern India programme," its Chief Executive Officer Gautam Sashittal told reporters here.

According to him, there are about 2,500 companies from India operating in the free zone, out of about 13,700 companies.

"There are not many from the eastern India," he said, adding that bulk tea producer, McLeod Russel, was associated with the tea centre in the free zone.

Sashittal said the free zone continued to grow despite the economic pressure in Gulf region, and the proposed Value Added Tax of five per cent in the United Arab Emirates is not expected to dent the investors' investment sentiment for setting up base in the region.

"Valued at just US $180 million in the 1970s, compared to the US $50 billion we see today, the UAE-India partnership is a great example of how strong leadership and collaboration delivers," he said and added the bilateral trade was expected to double in the next three-four years.

The free zone was now promoting "Uptown Dubai" by adding more land to its area to meet future growth though the existing free zone was yet to be filled up, he added.