Destination Abu Dhabiis growing in populari-ty as the exotic holi-

day option for Indian out-bound travellers. With theofferings of rich culture,iconic properties, luxuryhotels, cosmopolitan city,stunning architecture, cool-ing oasis, water adventures,theme parks, nature andwildlife, Abu Dhabi offers acomplete array of both tradi-tional and modern attrac-tions. Abu Dhabi attractsdiverse segments includingleisure, special interest, des-tination weddings and hon-eymoon, niche travellers andMICE.

One of Abu Dhabi’s mosticonic landmarks is thefamous Sheikh Zayed GrandMosque. This architecturalwork of art is one theworld’s largest mosques,with a capacity for an aston-ishing 40,000 worshippers. Itfeatures 82 domes, over a1,000 columns, 24 caratgold gilded chandeliers andthe world's largest hand knitcarpet. The main prayer hallis dominated by one of theworld’s largest chandeliers–10 metres in diameter, 15metres in height and weigh-ing twelve tonnes. Reflectivepools surround the mosque,amplifying its beauty. Thestriking white and goldcolours shining in the sunare transformed at night by aunique lightning systemwhich reflects the phases ofthe moon.

Emirates Palace – one ofthe world’s most opulenthotels - is a must-visit prop-erty for its sheer opulenceand luxury quotient. A realiconic Abu Dhabi landmark,this luxurious hotel blendsArabian splendour with thelatest technology to create amagical and memorableexperience. During daytime,the hotel’s golden-sandycolour contrasts with itsfresh green gardens, silverywater fountains and the bluesky. At night, the hotel’slighting changes subtly, fea-turing a majestic rainbow-changing effect over themain dome. The main Palacebuilding stretches over akilometre from wing to wing,and its gardens and sur-roundings spread across 100hectares. The hotel features114 domes, with the centraldome at an imposing 72.6

metres above ground. Gold,mother of pearl and crystalsdominate the interior. ThePalace has 1,002 chande-liers, the largest weighing2.5 tonnes. Another memo-rable Palace feature is itstwo handmade wall displaycarpets, portraying thePalace itself and each weigh-ing a tonne.

One of the must visitplaces in Abu Dhabi is theAbu Dhabi Falcon Hospital(ADFH), which is the first

public institution in the Unit-ed Arab Emirates providingcomprehensive veterinaryhealth care services exclu-sively for falcons. Yearlymore than 6,000 falcons arereceived for examinationsand treatment. From beingestablished as a purely vet-erinary facility, the ADFH hasexpanded in the fields ofeducation and awareness,training and research. Inrecent years, ADFH has high-ly successfully entered the

field of leisure and MICEtourism by tremendousincreases in tourists whohave joined Falcon WorldTour.

Abu Dhabi is also attract-ing arts and culture loverswith the fast developingSaadiyat Island Cultural Dis-trict. With its sweepingbeach, Saadiyat Beach GolfClub and stunning beach-front resorts, Saadiyat Islandwill soon be home to aseries of world-class culturalinstitutions. These willinclude the Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi,the Zayed National Museumand the Guggenheim AbuDhabi.

Abu Dhabi is also growingas a cruise tourism destina-tion. The bulk of the cruiseseason runs from Novemberto April as the UAE is anincreasingly popular ‘wintersun’ destination. Abu DhabiCruise Terminal located inZayed Port is Abu Dhabi’soldest commercial port andthe main city port for morethan 40 years. After movingall container traffic to KhalifaPort in 2012, Zayed Port hasbeen focusing on AbuDhabi’s cruise business,which has been growing sig-nificantly ever since the firstcruise liner called at the portin 2006. Today, Zayed Portwelcomes high profile cruiseships from Asia, Europe andAmerica, with lakhs oftourists visiting Abu Dhabieach season.

At least 16 pacts in awide range of sectorslike nuclear energy,oil, IT, aerospace andrailways, facilitating

billions of dollars of investmentby UAE in India, are likely to beinked during Crown Prince ofAbu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamedbin Zayed Al Nahyan's visit herebeginning Wednesday.

Ways to contain radicalism,stepping up counter-terrorismcooperation and dealing withthe ISIS will figure prominentlyin talks Al Nahyan will havewith Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday, UAE Ambas-sador Ahmed Al Banna said.

A major focus of the three-day visit by the influential UAEleader, which comes around sixmonths after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's trip to UAE,will be on stepping up econom-ic ties.

Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital,has a sovereign wealth fund ofabout USD 800 billion. Indiahas been eying the fund,parked with the Abu DhabiInvestment Authority, for itsinfrastructure sector and theenvoy said there may be someannouncements to this effectduring Al Nahyan's visit.

"We have on hand around 16agreements for cooperationbetween different ministriesand authorities. Out of 16,almost 12 have been finalisedand ready for signature. Hope-

fully all the 16 will be signed,"said Al Banna.

The envoy said the agree-ments will lead to "huge invest-ment portfolio" in diverse areasincluding renewable energy, oiland gas and some other majorsectors.

The pact on nuclear coopera-tion will provide for peaceful use

of atomic energy as researchand development in the area.UAE has similar pact with Franceand some other countries.

India is UAE's number onetrading partner and the annualtrade currently stands at aroundUSD 60 billion. UAE, a majorplayer in the Gulf region, is astrategically important country

for India.The country is home to

around 2.6 million Indians whoconstitute nearly 30 per cent ofits population. It was the sixthlargest supplier of crude oilto India in 2014-15.

Al Banna saidModi's visit to hiscountry, after agap of 34 years by

an Indian Prime Minister, hasopened a new path in strength-ening ties and Al Nahyan's tripwill further build on it.

"It (the visit) will reinforce theongoing relationship and willtake us to the next (level) thatboth sides are looking at whichis strategic cooperation, strate-gic coordination and strategic

relationship," the envoy said.Identifying terrorism as amajor threat facing the world,the envoy said both India andUAE are increasing security

and counter-terror-ism cooperation

to deal withthe menace.

On theissue of

checking radicalism, he saidIndia and UAE will work "handin hand to fight them. Yes therewill be some cooperation onthis".

The Crown Prince of AbuDhabi will also call on PresidentPranab Mukherjee.

Agencies

CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE

INDIA-UAE TO INK 16 PACTS; INVESTMENT,COUNTER-TERROR TOP AGENDAA MAJOR FOCUS OF THE THREE-DAY VISIT BY THE UAE LEADER, WHICH COMES AROUND SIX MONTHS AFTER PRIME MINISTERNARENDRA MODI'S TRIP TO UAE, WILL BE ON STEPPING UP ECONOMIC TIES

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi andDeputy Supreme Commanderof the UAE Armed Forces Gen-

eral Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed AlNahyan arrived in New Delhi onWednesday on a three-day visit toIndia.

He is accompanied by a high-level delegation, includingMinisters, senior officials and captains of industry.

During the forthcoming visit, the Crown Prince of AbuDhabi will call on President Pranab Mukherjee and holdbilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi on issues of mutu-al interest.

The visit follows the visit of Prime Minister Modi to UAEin August 2015, during which the two countries agreed toelevate the relationship to a comprehensive strategic part-nership.

India and UAE have historically enjoyed close and friend-ly relations anchored on mutually beneficial commercialexchanges and extensive people to people contacts.

India's well-balanced bilateral trade amounted to US$59 billion in 2014-15, making UAE its third largest tradingpartner.

UAE is among the largest investors in India in terms offoreign direct investments as it contributes significantly toIndia's energy security and is the sixth largest supplier ofcrude oil to India in 2014-15.

About 2.6 million strong and vibrant Indian communityforms the largest expatriate group in UAE. Their positiveand well-appreciated contribution in the development oftheir host country has been an important anchor of ourexcellent bilateral engagement.

India has vital stakes in the security and stability of theGulf region, which hosts over seven million Indians. Thisregion is also the source of nearly two-third of India'scrude oil requirements and is our largest trading partner.

— Agencies

ABU DHABI CROWNPRINCE VISITS INDIA TOBOOST SECURITY TIESDuring the visit, the CrownPrince will discuss bilateraltalks with PM Modi onissues of mutual interest

The New age business hubAbu Dhabi Airport will soon introduce its new Midfield Terminal Building

Doingbusiness inthe UAE

UAE is an ideal destination for doing business and remainscommitted to maintain its trade and investment options,

compared to its competitors

The iconic new Midfield Termi-nal Building is nearing comple-tion, and once it opens, it will

position Abu Dhabi InternationalAirport (AUH), as a leading interna-tional aviation and business hub.

The growth in passenger andcargo traffic that AUH has witnessedover the last few years, triggeredthe development of Abu Dhabi Air-port Business City, an ‘aerotropolis’featuring a Logistics Park, BusinessPark and Business Center. It is set tobecome one of the key commercialhubs in the region for businesseslooking to take advantage of the

economic benefits and unparalleledglobal connectivity.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTAND STRATEGIC LOCATION Abu Dhabi Airport Business Cityaims to encourage foreign directinvestment and create a functionaland livable environment that willinclude recreational, retail andlifestyle districts. It supports thedrive to position the emirate as aninternational hub for aviation, logis-tics, and technology, by capitalisingon its economic strength andstrategic location to offer a unique

product that is efficient, convenient,and cost competitive.

ONE-STOP-SHOP FREE ZONEENVIRONMENTAll tenants of Abu Dhabi AirportBusiness City have access to a fullpackage of free zone incentives atthree airports - Abu Dhabi Interna-tional, Al Ain International and AlBateen Executive Airports-. Thebenefits include, full duty and taxexemptions, 100 per cent foreignownership, and ability to repatriatecapital and profits. They will alsobe offered a broad spectrum of

integrated services, including: com-pany registration, licensing, leasing,and rapid visa processing.

A MARKET PLACE WITHLIMITLESS POTENTIALThe Business Center provides fullyfurbished and serviced executiveoffices in a facility that is designedwith the flexibility to accommodateindividual and corporate clients. Itoffers executive offices, flexi desks,meeting rooms, administrative sup-port facilities and other businessservices and amenities, in a fullynetworked IT environment.

Economic and commercial cooper-ation are key drivers of a bilateralrelationship. In 2015, India-UAE re-

lations attained impetus with the IndianPrime Minister’s visit to UAE after threedecades. The visit was momentous tostrengthen the historical India-UAEbond and evolve a comprehensivestrategic partnership in the cultural, eco-nomic and commercial domain. The en-during ethnic and tourism ties since1970 reached new heights in 2015, withbilateral trade activities nearing USD 60billion, making India the third largestbusiness partner of the UAE.

The first visit of His Highness,Crown Prince of the UAE in India,marks a milestone in the history ofIndia-UAE association to foster activeparticipation in India’s growth story.Particularly, amidst present dynamismof the global economic scenariowhere the IMF foresees India as thefastest growing emerging economywith enormous potential for develop-ment. The visit, accompanied by agroup of business delegates, envi-sions UAE as a stable economic part-ner of India aimed at progressinginvestment opportunities for UAE-based sovereign/pension funds,establishment of a UAE-India Infra-structure Fund for infrastructure

growth in India, participation of Indi-an conglomerates in UAE’s infrastruc-ture development, enhancement ofSME activities between the nations,promotion of scientific and space col-laboration and other areas of devel-opment.

The IMF recommendations andpragmatic approach of the G20 mem-ber countries, prompted UAE to trans-form its economy and consider imple-menting certain aspects of OECDBEPS Project. Despite the proposal toadopt BEPS Project, UAE is an idealdestination for doing business andremains committed to maintain itstrade and investment options allure,compared to its competitors. Thestrategic partnership of UAE and Indiais poised to reach its pinnacle duringthis visit considering that, Indianeconomy has been resilient throughglobal downturns, with the govern-ment’s assurance to upscale ease ofdoing business which is expected toincrease avenues of foreign invest-ments in India.

Shailendra S. Sharma is achartered accountant with a tax

consulting firm. The views /opinions explicitly or implicitly

expressed in the article are personalbased on professional experience

DESTINATIONABU DHABI

With the offerings of rich culture, luxury hotels and stunning architecture,Abu Dhabi offers a complete array of both traditional and modern attractions

The New Cruise Terminal

Ferrari World

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TYIM

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016