Mohammed bin Zayed will discuss with senior Indian official ways to strengthen cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, will begin on Wednesday a three-day long official visit to India, where he will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

While visiting India, Mohammed bin Zayed will discuss with senior Indian official ways to strengthen cooperation and friendship between the two countries in the light of continuous coordination and consultations regarding regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Mohammed bin Zayed will be accompanied by a high-profile delegation including a number of Shaikhs, ministers, senior officials, businesspersons and economists.

See photos: When late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan visited India

MOE releases crucial report on UAE-India economic relations

The Department of Analysis, Commercial and Industrial Information at the Ministry of Economy (MOE) has released an analytical study on the reality of the Indian economy and the non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and India.

Along with featuring India's salient economic indicators, the study contains economic, statistical and descriptive data on the movement of foreign trade and investment in the Republic of India.

The study concludes that trade and investment sectors form the cornerstone of the booming bilateral economic ties between the UAE and India. As far as the direct foreign non-oil trade between the two countries is concerned, the study reveals a 21 per cent decline in the total value of bilateral trade exchange during 2014 as compared to 2013.

This, as the study points out, came as a result of the decline of the UAE's re-export value by 33% to US$5.8 billion in 2014 from $8.6 billion in 2013. National exports fell during the same period by 31%, while the country's imports from India declined by 12%. The decline affected the balance of trade leading to a rise of deficit from $3.45 billion in 2013 to $6.29 billion in 2014.

On the UAE's free zone trade (FTZ) with India, the study indicated that it saw a 16% decline during 2014 as against 2013, which came as a result of the fall of the UAE's free zones exports by 59% from $738 million in 2013 to $304 million in 2014. The UAE free zones re-exports fell during the same period by 28% while free zones' imports to the UAE from India dropped by 3.5%. This adversely affected the balance of trade leading to a rise in deficit from $1.9 billion in 2013 to $2.8 billion in 2014.

UAE's non-oil exports to India in 2014 stood at nearly $5.3 billion, with a decline of 31% compared to 2013. Overall, 10 commodities accounted for 88.5% of the total non-oil exports of the UAE to India. Different varieties of gold - raw, dust, and the semi processed - occupied 59% of the total non-oil exports to India which stood at US$3.16 billion, down by 46.6% compared to 2013. This was followed by ornaments and jewelry standing at US$364 million with an annual growth of 41%, and by trade in copper wire with a total value of US$319 million and an annual growth rate of 26%.

In terms of the UAE's imports, India is the third largest trade partner of the nation with imports from India touching nearly $17.4 billion in 2014 with a decline of 12.4% from 2013. Ten commodities accounted for 67% of imports from India during 2014. Various gold varieties dominated the list of the UAE's imports from India with a total value of $ 4.6 billion accounting for 26.4% of the total UAE imports from India, with an annual decline of 1.5%.

Diamond came in second with a total value of nearly $3.2 billion, accounting for a 47% downfall compared to 2013. Jewelry and ornaments occupied third spot with a total value of $ 2.1 billion representing a growth of 30%. It is notable that the UAE's imports of wheat rose by 179%.

The UAE's re-exports to India during 2014 fell by 32.8% compared to 2013, with a total value of $ 5.8 billion in 2014 as against US$ 8.6 billion in 2013. This was due to a decline of the UAE's re-export of diamonds by 32.3 %, as well as precious stones and semi-precious stones by 73.3%. Added to this was the decline of the UAE's re-exports of silver in raw, dust, and semi-processed forms by 57%. Re-exports of phones to India fell by 82%. However, on the plus side, there was a rise of re-exports of hard drives and tapes by 6566%. Re-export of diamonds alone accounted for US$4.38 billion representing 76% of the total re-exports of the UAE to India.

The study revealed that the UAE is the largest Arab investor country in India accounting for 81.2% of the total Arab investments in India and is ranked 11th in the world in terms of foreign direct investments in India. The total UAE investments in India amounted to US$ 8 billion, including US$ 2.89 billion in the form of direct foreign investments. UAE investments in India are concentrated in five sectors namely construction (16%), energy (14%), metallurgy (10%), services sector (10%), computer software and hardware (5%). The other sectors include petroleum products, precious metals, gems and jewelry, minerals, chemicals, wood and wood products.

The study indicates that among the oldest national companies investing in India are DP World (which handles 34% of the total container terminals in India), Emaar MGF, which has emerged a leader in the Indian real estate sector, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), National Petroleum Construction Company, Emaar, Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge), Abu Dhabi Investment House, Dubai Investments, Dana Gas, Dubai Aluminum Company Limited (DUBAL), Dubai Cables (Ducab), Abar Inc, TECOM Investments, Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, Flydubai, Air Arabia, Dubai Group, Sharaf Group, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Gulf Bank, Mashreq Bank, Rakeen, Ruwais Fertilizer, and RAK Ceramics.