IT industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has signed an MoU with Dubai Internet City (DIC), to help Indian SMEs to expand their operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The MoU was signed by Ammar al-Malik, Managing Director of DIC and Dubai Outsource City (DOC) and Kamal Agarwala, SME Council Chair, NASSCOM.
As part of the agreement, DIC is mandated to provide Indian technology startups and SMEs an opportunity to establish their presence in Dubai, by giving access to the largest technology community, providing them with a gateway and necessary support to grow in the UAE and the wider region.
Being the leading technology business community in the region, DIC will serve as a launchpad for Indian tech businesses, in a rapidly growing $8 billion tech industry in UAE.
DIC is home to leading Indian multinationals, like Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and the HCL Technologies.
The integrated community hosts a large number of Indian professionals within its 24,000-strong workforce, which includes diverse workers from over 150 nationalities.
India and UAE continue to strengthen bilateral trade relations, as Dubai opens doors for Indian businesses. The trade between the two countries is expected to reach $100 billion by 2020.
In a landmark decision, businesses in India and UAE can now transact directly in their national currencies, to further ease the process of doing business.
“As the apex body for the USD 154 billion Indian IT BPM industry, we have strived to ensure the continued growth of the sector, facilitate partnerships, and fuel expansions,” said Kamal Agarwala, SME Council Chair, NASSCOM.
Apart from businesses, the number of Indian tourists to Dubai crossed the mark of two million last year, growing at 15%.