The first India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States (I2U2) Business Forum took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on February 22, 2023. Senior private and governmental sector representatives from I2U2 were present at the Forum to discuss potential for business cooperation between the four nations. It was the first occasion of its kind since the I2U2 Group’s formal introduction at the I2U2 Leaders’ Summit in July 2022.
The I2U2 Business Forum began with opening remarks by H.E. Ahmed Al Sayegh, UAE Minister of State; Jose W. Fernandez, US Under Secretary of State; Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs; Ronen Levi, Director General at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Brett McGurk, Deputy Assistant to the US President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Secretary (Economic Relations) reaffirmed India’s commitment to the I2U2 collaboration and made a compelling case for all stakeholders to work towards making real progress on all I2U2 initiatives, including establishing an I2U2 Innovation Center in Gurugram, Haryana, India. He exhorted I2U2 partners to work towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle for everybody in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion appeal for LiFE-Lifestyle for Environment.
Secretary ER Dammu Ravi attended the India-Israel-UAE-USA #I2U2 Sherpas meeting held in Abu Dhabi today.
Sherpas reiterated their commitment to I2U2 partnership and reviewed progress in all the existing and prospective I2U2 projects. pic.twitter.com/vWEDrN09nY
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) February 22, 2023
There was an official signing ceremony to welcome the Republic of India as the newest member of the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate, which was established at COP26 by the UAE and the US and includes Israel as a partner in addition to 140 other governmental and non-governmental organisations. Authorities stated that they thought such a step would be beneficial.
The morning concluded with presentations on two major initiatives currently explored under I2U2, including a possible USD 2 billion investment in a project to build a series of integrated agricultural facilities across India and the potential development of a 300-megawatt wind and solar hybrid power plant in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Companies and private sector representatives then exchanged insights and discussed potential partnerships during seven parallel sessions focused on the food security, energy, water, space, transport, health, and technology fields.
The I2U2 Business Forum aims to become a regular platform for private and public entities from India, Israel, the UAE, and the US to convene and establish tangible joint business ventures in I2U2’s core economic and technological fields.
The I2U2 collaboration, which is made up of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the US, aims to promote real economic cooperation among its members in a number of fields, such as food security, water, energy, space, transportation, health, and technology. It intends to assemble private sector resources and know-how to, among other things.