J&K attracts global investors at Expo

The Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has concluded its participation at the India pavilion on Thursday on a successful note, where the UT has attracted significant investment commitments and signed 7 MoUs and 1 LoI with global investors.

The UT has showcased its business attractiveness, tourism potential along with its rich cultural heritage to the global audience during its two-week participation at EXPO2020 Dubai.

The UT’s ten-day participation was kicked off on Jan.3, 2022, by Shri Ranjan Prakash Thakur, Principal Secretary, Industry & Commerce, J&K along with Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai and Deputy Commissioner-General for India at Expo 2020 Dubai.

A business delegation led by the Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Shri Manoj Sinha, pitched investment opportunities to the UAE businesses.

Shri Sinha also addressed an investors summit in Dubai, which was attended by renowned business leaders and investors from the UAE.

During his visit, Shri Sinha met several business leaders including Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World and Mr Yusuff Ali M.A, Chairman of LuLu group among others to discuss the opportunities and potential areas of collaboration.

During its participation at EXPO2020 Dubai, the UT of J&K has signed seven MoUs with LuLu Group, Al Maya Group, MATU Investments LLC, GL Employment Brokerage LLC, Century Financial and Noon E-commerce, Grandeur Business Solutions respectively along with one Letter of Intent (LoI) with Magna Waves Pvt. Ltd, Emaar Group and Lulu International.

The investment ranges from real estate, tourism, infrastructure & healthcare sectors among others.

While Emaar properties will be developing a shopping mall in Srinagar, LuLu Group will set up a food processing and logistics (FPL) hub in Srinagar. UAE’s Century Financial will also be investing $100m to build three hotels and one commercial-residential complex in the UT of J&K.

Shri Manoj Sinha also inaugurated a two-day Buyer-Seller meet between sellers from the UT of J&K and buyers from the UAE under the ‘One District One Product’ initiative.

The event was done in collaboration with Invest India and attended by Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai and Deputy Commissioner-General for India. Shri Sinha launched the world-famous GI-tagged saffron at LuLu Hypermarket in Dubai.

The week observed the presence of eminent dignitaries including Shri Ranjan Prakash Thakur, Principal Secretary, Industry & Commerce, J&K, Shri Sarmad Hafeez, IAS, Secretary Tourism, UT of J&K, Shri Mehmood Ahmad Shah, Director Industries Kashmir, Shri Ghulam Nabi Yatoo, Director Tourism Kashmir, Shri Vivekanand Rai, Director Tourism Kashmir and Shri Bakshi Javed Humayun, Director SKICC.

A couple of days ago explorers, travellers and wanderers were all invited to come to Dubai for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at Expo 2020 in the World Expo’s latest advertising campaign released in India and the UAE.

The ad brings together three creative superstars, with musical narration by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, concept and composition by acclaimed poet and writer Prasoon Joshi, who is also the CEO of McCann Worldgroup India, and music direction by musical maestro Shankar Mahadevan.

The trio are collaborating for the first time ever to drive awareness of the largest event held in the Arab world, currently running in the UAE until 31 March 2022.

The Expo 2020 campaign spotlights the array of varied experiences Expo 2020 has to offer, from projections on the Al Wasl dome, the largest 360-degree projection surface in the world, to its architecturally-stunning buildings – including 192 Country Pavilions – to thrilling performances on site every day.

Expo 2020 opened its doors on 1 October 2021, and has seen a staggering 8,958,132 million visits in its first three months. India has continued to represent a top international visitation market for the event.