Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC), a leading business group in the UAE, has announced a strong line-up of events for 2017-18 that will help strengthen two-way investment and trade between India and the UAE as the newly-elected administrative board takes office.

On March 25, the members of the IBPC elected a new administrative board who then unanimously elected the office bearers with Bindu Suresh Chettur becoming the first woman president and Smita Prabhakar as the first woman secretary general, Hemant Jethwani as the vice president and Janak Panjuani as the treasurer to lead the organisation, said a statement from IBPC.

Others elected to the nine-member board include: GR Mehta, James Mathew, Kulwant Singh, Monika Agarwal and Nimish Makvana.

Bindu Suresh Chettur, president of IBPC, said: “We have been elected to lead the organisation at a very significant juncture of the bilateral relations between India and the UAE when both the countries are becoming strategic development partners in their journey.”

“Accordingly, the role of the IBPC will also have to be re-defined to help strengthen the strategic direction. In the next few months, we will be undertaking a number of new initiatives to elevate IBPC to a new role to support the new environment of stronger economic cooperation,” she said.

“There are lots of investors in the GCC who are looking at the new economic opportunities in India – but do not know how to approach and who to talk to. Now IBPC will play a role to help these investors to find the right partner and look at the right industry to achieve a faster and higher return on investment,” she added.

The IBPC election comes two months after the UAE signed a series of agreements in New Delhi during the historic visit by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India as the chief guest on India’s Republic Day.

At the height, bilateral trade between India and the UAE reached $75 billion in 2013-14. The two countries signed 14 agreements in January this year that have cemented the bilateral relations.

Smita Prabhakar, secretary general, IBPC, said: “The UAE’s $75 billion investment plan (announced in 2015) is the single largest investment announcement in India’s history and that speaks a lot about the nature of the bilateral relationship between the two countries.”

“In January, the UAE signed up to build a strategic energy reserve in India that will help boost India’s energy security and help power the growth of Indian economy and help power new industries and urban centres as the country plans to deliver 100 smart cities,” she said.

“Indian economy is on a roll and for that it needs strategic partners. As the UAE stands by to support India’s growth, it becomes crucial for all of us to help rally the private sector investors to identify the best investment opportunities and benefit from the India growth story,” she added. – TradeArabia News Service