India, UAE should work together in agriculture: Prez

President Pratibha Patil on Thursday exhorted businesses in India and the United Arab Emirates to explore opportunities for cooperation in agriculture and food processing fields.

"Agriculture is also a very important field in which you can have cooperation. Food processing is also very important. Think of these new areas," she said deviating from her prepared speech at a function in Sharjah.

She was speaking at the inaugural function of the India Trade and Exhibition Centre at which Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah, was also present.

Patil said she was privileged to be the first Indian President to make an official visit to the Emirate of Sharjah.

Noting that agriculture is the biggest private business in India, she said 40 per cent of farming activity in the country is dryland farming.

"We want to green our arid areas. The UAE also wants to go green, so let us work together".

In Dubai also, she spoke in similar vein at a function organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

"Immense potential also lies for a mutually beneficial partnership in the energy sector and also in agriculture and food processing sectors. India is a leading producer of fruits, despite this only two per cent of our trade is in this area," the President said.

Her remarks on the issue of agriculture comes a day before she is set to visit an institute working in the field of arid and dryland farming during her visit to Syria beginning on Friday.

Turning to the trade turnover between India and the UAE which has touched a record $43 billion, she said that 'there are complementaries in our trade relations and hence, there is opportunity to expand the volume of trade considerably in the coming years.'

"Equally important is the potential for mutual investments by the two countries. We need to explore every avenue to realise this potential".

The UAE, a long standing commercial and business hub in the region, has also emerged as the third major re-export centre in the world after Singapore and Hong Kong.

She hoped that the India Trade and Exhibition Centre would help able to meet the needs of the Small and Medium enterprises and other trade bodies.

V R S Natrajan, leader of the Indian business delegation, said that there were huge opportunities for bilateral cooperation in various fields including oil and chemicals, infrastructure, especially construction, railways, metro projects and freight transport.