UAE to set up consulate in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, May 17 (IANS) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to set up its Kerala consulate here in the state capital, India's Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said Thursday.

"The decision to set up the consulate in Thiruvananthapuram is because of the rule that consulates can be set up only in state capitals. There are certain rules and guidelines and they have to be adhered too," Ahamed told IANS over phone from New Delhi.

The minister said the consulate would start functioning in a few months.

The news about the setting up of the consulate was announced last July when UAE's Ambassador to India Mohamed Sultan Abdalla Al Owais met Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here.

The new consulate will help people of the state who want to go to the UAE for work.

Currently, they have to get their documents certified by the UAE embassy and consulate in New Delhi and Mumbai, respectively.

The new consulate is also expected to boost trade between Kerala and the UAE.

More than a million people from the state live and work in the UAE, says a study by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.