The Ministry of Investment signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Republic of India, to adopt a framework to enhance bilateral investment cooperation between the two sides in the digital infrastructure sector, with a special focus on establishing data center projects in India.
The memorandum of understanding represents an important step towards developing investment opportunities in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence between the two countries, and reflects the importance of the efforts led by the UAE and the Republic of India to enhance regional and digital cooperation.
The memorandum was signed by His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, Minister of Investment, while it was signed on behalf of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Republic of India by His Excellency Dr. Subramaniam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India.
Under the memorandum, the two sides will discuss and evaluate the technical and investment capabilities to develop data center projects in the Republic of India with an initial capacity of up to 2 gigawatts, in addition to promoting and facilitating investments in digital public infrastructure (DPI), artificial intelligence (AI), and aspects related to research, development and innovation. Furthermore, in order to support the deployment of a supercomputer cluster in the Republic of India, both countries will evaluate the research of a project to build and deploy a supercomputer cluster in India, with an AI computing power of up to 8 exaflops, for use by the public and private sectors and academia.
The UAE ranked fourth as the largest investor in the Republic of India, and seventh as the largest source of foreign direct investment in 2023.
India is also currently among the top 15 countries in the world in terms of data center capacity, with a network of 151 data centers spread across its various regions. The value of India’s digital economy is also expected to rise from US$175 billion in 2022 to US$1 trillion by 2030.
This growth is due to the desire of an increasing number of consumers and merchants in the Republic of India, with a population of more than one billion people, to use digital platforms to complete transactions.
The pace of development in this field is being accelerated by enacting data localization policies that provide for local storage, as well as activating the “Digital India” initiative launched by the Indian government to ensure that its services are available electronically to all residents, and to keep pace with the increasing reliance on data, which requires improving the digital infrastructure. And creating a flexible ecosystem for data centers.
The memorandum signed between the two sides aims to raise the level of bilateral cooperation by building strong relations between public and private institutions in the UAE and the Republic of India. The memorandum also proposes facilitating knowledge exchange.
His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi said on this occasion: “This memorandum is based on the established historical relations between the UAE and the Republic of India, which share a common vision to benefit from modern technology to enhance innovation and economic and social growth. It also supports India’s efforts to meet its increasing requirements in data centers from “By facilitating investment, this will enhance the capabilities of companies and industries to better keep pace with the needs of the future.”
The memorandum of understanding signed between the UAE and the Republic of India follows the signing of several strategic agreements between the Ministry of Investment in the UAE and various ministries in the Republic of India in January 2024 in sectors including renewable energy, food industries and health care.
2024-02-14 08:05:33
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