Dubai Chamber's new Bengaluru office signals strong focus on tech, AI: Experts

Bengaluru: The decision to set up its second representative office of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce (DCC) in India in Bengaluru signals the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) strong commitment to a strategic pivot towards technology, startups, and clean energy collaborations, according to industry experts.

The Bengaluru branch of the DCC was inaugurated on April 9, during the visit of Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who also serves as the Deputy Prime Minister, to India to strengthen bilateral ties. The DCC had earlier opened its first office in Mumbai in 2018.

"Bengaluru becoming the 34th hub of the DCC will be a huge, huge jump. Bengaluru itself is such a buzz. I have a few companies headquartered in Bengaluru, which is already third on the list of global startup hubs," Bollywood actor-turned-businessman Vivek Anand Oberoi, Managing Director of BNW Developments, a luxury real estate developer in Dubai, told PTI over Zoom.

According to him, since the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into effect, the UAE has been exploring opportunities in infrastructure development, healthcare access, maritime capabilities, digital logistics, and higher education with India.

CEPA is a trade agreement between India and the UAE. It was signed on February 18, 2022, and came into force on May 1, 2022.

"For example, we are working with an AI company based in India that is now setting up a subsidiary in the UAE to partner with us in optimising our entire sales experience by integrating AI into our Salesforce and SAP backends," Oberoi added.

He said that when Dubai takes an initiative, it often influences all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations.

"I can speak from the perspective of our edtech company, i-Scholar, which has suddenly gained a lot of attention in the GCC region after we announced our pilot programmes in Dubai," he added.

The growth of fintech in India, driven by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has led many countries, including those in the MENA region, to explore ways of integrating that model into their ecosystems, said R Lakshmanan, Senior Partner at Dubai-based MCA, which offers automated finance and audit solutions.

On March 18, shortly after the visit of the Crown Prince of Dubai, which resulted in the signing of eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), MCA announced a strategic alliance with Febi.ai, a Gurgaon-based AI-powered accounting automation platform.

"As part of our AI and digital transformation initiatives, this marks the first of many partnerships aimed at bringing the best AI-enabled software solutions from India to our clients in the Middle East," Lakshmanan told PTI over Google Meet.

"The Bengaluru office is a testament to the growing trust between the UAE and India, as much as it is a response to the clarion call from Indian companies that continue to drive investment in Dubai," said Chandrashekhar Bhatia, Chairman of the Global Business Federation (GBF) Middle East.

Just as traditionally profitable sectors in Dubai, such as real estate, have benefited, non-oil sectors like the textile industry have also profited greatly due to the improved relationship between the two nations, said Bhatia, who has been involved in the textile business in Dubai since 1993.

"After the signing of CEPA, the 5 per cent customs duty on textiles was abolished, leading to a growth of over 350 per cent for the industry. With a chamber of commerce in Bengaluru, we can expect more players from the South as well," added Bhatia.

Sahitya Chaturvedi, Secretary General of the Indian Business & Professional Council (IBPC) Dubai, which operates under the aegis of the DCC, said that the second office in India is not a surprise, considering that in the first quarter of 2025, the DCC saw 4,563 new registrations from India and AED 142 billion in non-oil trade in 2024, reflecting a 19 per cent year-on-year growth.

"So it is becoming obvious that India is the preferred non-oil trade partner," pointed out Chaturvedi, who was part of the delegation that visited India with the Crown Prince of Dubai in early April.

As for Bengaluru, he said the choice is quite logical, as the UAE has placed the digital economy at the forefront.

"This means they need a lot of collaboration from fintech companies. Bengaluru is naturally the leader when it comes to IT and related services," said Chaturvedi.

With Indian startups preferring to register their head offices in India ever since the Angel tax was abolished in July 2024—popularly referred to as reverse flipping—the imminent danger of startups relocating to Dubai, lock, stock, and barrel, due to the ease of doing business there, has become a non-issue, said Lakshmanan.

"India’s negative stance on the crypto market has caused crypto startups to move their bases outside India, which has benefited the UAE a lot. But this is no longer the case. Especially for companies whose primary customers are Indians, moving outside India would not make any sense," said Lakshmanan.

"In any case, the operational cost in Dubai is high," added Chaturvedi.

Even if there is no "tax efficiency" in India, a market like India, which offers the advantage of size, is the greatest market on earth for a startup, pointed out Oberoi.

Now, with collaborations between the UAE and Dubai made easier, Indian companies are in a better position, he added.

"It’s a win-win. For example, if I have a tech company in India, I can create a subsidiary or form a partnership with a company in the UAE, and raise capital there since I have already proven myself in India. I can now focus on international growth, which is a lot easier from the UAE," said Oberoi.