'India second largest business partner of UAE'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India has become the second largest business partner of the United Arab Emirates after United States, Rashid Al Leem, Director General of the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) in Sharjah, said today.

Rashid Al Leem, who is here to promote the free zone by attracting small and medium enterprises, told reporters here that the HFZA wanted to enhance the existing business relationships between India and United States.

The Hamriyah Free Zone now had 4,900 companies from 135 countries of which 1,000 were being run by Indian enterpreneurs. Around 60 percent of the Indian investors in the free zone were from Kerala, he said.

He said the HFZA had interactions last week with the business community in Kerala at Kozhikode and Kochi in co-operation with the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and would also be meeting businessmen here.