Dubai is becoming increasingly attractive as a tech hub as the city continues its digital transformation. Can India take anything away from this?
Sarthak Gupta, co-founder of the startup Kroop.AI in Gujarat, is tempted to go to Dubai. Gupta received a "incredible reaction" to his company's AI-powered solution at the recent Gitex Global event in Dubai, which allows users to generate multilingual movies of digital avatars using just text as input. More than 200 Indian companies, including Kroop.AI, displayed their latest technological innovations over the course of five days in the middle of October. These innovations covered a wide range of fields, such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data, the internet of things (IoT), the metaverse, Web 3.0, healthtech, and smart cities.
The Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism reports that more than 3,400 active IT businesses on the mainland include Indian founders or partners. If Gupta follows through with his stated intention and establishes a presence in Dubai, he will be joining this impressive group. If we count the hundreds of businesses headquartered in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), which is in the western part of Dubai's Jebel Ali region, the total number of Indian-owned establishments in the emirate rises significantly.
Having an office in the emirate facilitates both the hiring of international workers by Indian entrepreneurs and the recruitment of skilled Indian technologists by the government of Dubai. The tax breaks, golden visas, world-class infrastructure, improved quality of life, faster approvals, and business-friendly rules in Dubai are enticing high net worth people (HNIs) and businesses from India to relocate there.
According to an article published in ArabianBusiness on November 18, the United Arab Emirates awarded 151,600 golden visas for the years 2019–2022. Starting in 2019, visa holders will be able to reside and work in Dubai for a full decade. One such golden visa holder is Rajesh Sehgal, a managing partner at Equanimity Investments and angel investor. Because the government of Dubai is so eager to attract skilled workers, many of Sehgal's pals have taken advantage of the country's "golden visa" programme. With the visa in hand, he could easily visit Dubai, but he's still in India for the time being.
As a result of India's strict cryptocurrency restrictions, several Web3 techpreneurs, including Nischal Shetty, creator of local crypto exchange WazirX, have set up shop in Dubai. Despite the fact that Sehgal claims "several crypto entrepreneurs have gone there owing to regulatory constraints in India," he cautions that Dubai is "an expensive place to live in unless you're working there full-time." However, Sehgal emphasises that not one of Equanitmity's portfolio firms is headquartered in Dubai.
Enticement of Dubai
According to a Boston Consulting Group poll conducted in December of 2021, Dubai is the third most popular place in the world to live and work for foreign nationals (BCG). The second-best city was Amsterdam, while the first-place city was London. The emirate's high standard of living, tax-free incomes, and business-friendly regulations have drawn people from all over the globe, including India. This includes its excellent transportation systems, high-end shopping centres, beaches, theme parks, desert safaris, and theme parks.
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