India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a new project called Bharat Mart in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which aims to improve trade relations between India and the UAE and make India more involved in the global supply chain. The project, spanning over 100,000 square meters, is India’s response to China’s Dragon Mart and will be located within Dubai’s Jebel Ali free zone and managed by DP World. It will feature retail showrooms, warehouses, offices, and other facilities to provide a unified platform for Indian exporters to showcase their diverse range of products, including heavy machinery and perishable items.
The establishment of Bharat Mart is poised to strengthen trade relations between India and the UAE, as it leverages Jebel Ali Port’s strategic location and logistics capabilities to connect Indian traders with international buyers across West Asia, Africa, and Eurasia. This move follows the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed in 2022, which propelled trade between India and the UAE to a record high of US$84.5 billion in 2022–23.
During PM Modi’s recent visit to the UAE, he launched the UPI payment system, the JAYWAN card, based on India’s digital RuPay credit and debit cards. The main highlight was the inauguration of the BAPS Hindu Mandir (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha temple) by PM Modi in Abu Dhabi.
The $500 million investment by the UAE, announced by the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), includes a $200 million initiative to provide access to the technology to emerging and developing countries and the creation of a $300 million Falcon Foundation to advance the development of open source generative AI models. The ATRC Global Tech R&D Platform can serve as a conduit for countries to leverage the Emirates’ expertise in six sectors, such as food and agriculture, safety and security, healthcare, transport, sustainability, environment and energy, and aerospace and space.
The investment is aimed at empowering every country with the means to thrive in the technology-driven world, facilitating the development of sophisticated technology solutions and helping countries keep pace with the latest advancements. The Falcon Foundation, a non-profit organization, will improve knowledge sharing and accelerate the democratisation of artificial intelligence by enabling open computing resources for the continued research and development of Falcon AI.
The funding highlights the UAE’s commitment to fostering transparency and collaboration in AI, as global leaders engaged in discussions at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai, exploring the technology’s far-reaching impact and the urgent need for effective regulation, ethical design, and adaptation strategies for governments and organizations.
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