Free trade agreement with China under negotiation, says Bin Sulayem

He also announced that his company, Nakheel, is looking at setting up prestige real estate projects in both China and India to cater to the growing population of the well-off who demand world-class standards.

"We are a major investor in ports in China and India. But we are also looking at real estate projects. Nakheel has experience and is able to create a project like the Palms from concept to financing to construction and bank loans payback," the Dubai World Chairman said in a session on 'The New Silk Road: Dealing with India and China'.

"We could go to China to create prestige and high quality projects. The same applies to India where we handle five ports and almost 70% of container handling capacity," said bin Sulayem adding that in India "we are also looking seriously at export processing zones closer to the ports".

"The growth potential [of India and China] is of great importance to us to grow our business".

Mohammed Alshaya, CEO of Alshaya Group, pointed out that his outlets across the Gulf sell over US $500 million worth of Chinese products every year. "We see the impact of China in the Gulf in terms of fashion and brown and white goods and will very soon in automotive."

Alshaya quoted Wharton School of Business research which projected that China and India were going to dominate the world economy. "By 2050 China will account for 19% of the world GDP, which is equal to that of US, Europe and Japan. India will not be far behind accounting for 18%," Alshaya explained.

"The growth of China and India is great news for the Gulf. The Gulf is going through a second oil boom. There is lots of surplus and we see huge opportunities for deploying these funds into India and China - but with care because of valuation issues," he added.

Victor Chu, Chairman of Hong Kong based First Eastern Investment, urged closer integration between China, India and the Arab World.

"All the three regions have undergone tremendous transformation in recent years and are still in transition bringing about huge opportunities. China and India have both size and speed. Rarely have we seen more than one billion people growing at 8.5-10% a year.

"China, India and the Gulf have different political systems, yet there is so much synergy and opportunity. We are culturally similar being family-oriented, value-driven and knowledge-focussed," Chu said.

He suggested a tie-up wherein China would leverage its strength in basic processed products, Dubai in logistics and India in ICT.

In his introduction, Kenneth Borda, CEO for Middle East and North Africa of Deutsche Bank UAE, said the 21st Century will belong to Asia, led by superpowers China and India.

"India, China and the Gulf are among the fastest growing economies of the world," he pointed out, adding that the shift towards the East is visible with the Gulf's energy focus already moving away from traditional markets in the West towards China and India.

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