KOCHI: THE Malayalee businessmen in West Asia have hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the World Government Summit during his two-day visit to the UAE and they said the Prime Minister rightly stressed the importance of using technology to improve lives across barriers and overcome challenges the world will encounter in the coming days.
Yusuffali M A, managing director of Abu Dhabi-headquartered Lulu Group, termed Modi’s visit to the UAE as “historic” and said the fact he was the chief guest at this year’s Summit, showed the importance accorded to India by the UAE.“At the CEO summit, owners of companies with a turnover of $10-50 billion attended. Again, this is significant as they did not send the CEOs or other top officers,” Yusuffali, who was present at the Summit, told Express on the phone.
The UAE had announced $75 billion investment in India during Modi’s visit in 2015.“An investment of $14 billion has already been made by the UAE in India. This visit not only boosted bilateral ties but also made us NRIs feel more proud and elated,” he said.Azad Moopen, CMD of Aster DM Healthcare which has presence in both India and West Asia, said through Modi’s visit, his group was looking forward to enhancing the healthcare sector by establishing more medical education institutions and colleges in the UAE, as well as promoting medical tourism.
“I am glad to have got a chance to attend the conference and meet him in person. He is the first Indian PM to visit the UAE in 34 years, which shows his commitment to strengthening India’s foreign ties, especially with the UAE, as the two governments take their cooperation to the next level,” he said.Adeeb Ahamed, managing director, Lulu Exchange Holdings and Twenty14 Holdings, said Modi’s speech touched upon some of the burning topics of our times. “He rightly stressed on using technology to improve lives. The governments of India and UAE have been great drivers of technology and have subsequently introduced reforms which have improved people’s lives,” he said.