SME Times News Bureau | 23 Sep, 2019
In the seventh meeting of the UAE-India High
Level Joint Task Force on Investments (the Task Force) was held on 22nd
September 2019 in Abu Dhabi, India and UAE reiterated their commitment to
enhance bilateral trade and investment.
The meeting was co-chaired by Sheikh Hamed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority (ADIA) and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court and Piyush
Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry. Senior officials from
both countries participated in the meeting.
The Task Force was established as a key forum to
promote economic ties between the UAE and India.
At the 7th meeting of the Task Force, the two sides expressed satisfaction
at the progress made in mutually identified areas aimed at promoting bilateral
trade and investments and took note of the successful outcomes of the
recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to UAE.
Both sides also discussed issues relating to the
tax treatment of the ADIA wholly owned subsidiaries at the Abu Dhabi Global
Market (ADGM).
The Indian side has agreed to give an early
consideration and mutually beneficial solution to the issue in a way that could
facilitate ADIA’s investments in India.
In the context of the Air Services Agreement
between India and UAE and the memorandum of understanding, with the
Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras-Al-Khaimah and Sharjah, both
sides discussed the implementation of these bilateral agreements.
They further agreed that pending issues,
interests and concerns expressed by both sides be taken up for mutual benefit
of the carriers and civil aviation sectors of the two countries. Both sides
expressed their confidence in reaching mutually beneficial outcomes in the
consultations that are planned to be held during the second half of October
2019.
The co-chairs noted the efforts to expedite the
resolution of outstanding issues experienced by DP World in relating to
expansion of its investment portfolio in India and agreed to resolve these
issues to mutual satisfaction.
To increase the confidence of the business
communities of the two countries, both sides stressed the importance of the
bilateral judicial cooperation through the recognition and
enforceability of court judgement in civil and commercial cases and arbitration
awards in each other’s country.
Areas for future cooperation were also discussed
at the meeting, including growth opportunities for Indian banks, asset managers
and technology companies at ADGM, and the potential for private banks operating
at ADGM to offer high quality private wealth services in India. In this regard,
the UAE side further emphasized the strategic role that ADGM has played in
fostering collaborations to enable sustainable trade flows and investments
between the two economies.
The co-chairs appreciated the functioning of ‘UAE
PLUS’ special desk and the ‘Fast Track Mechanism’ established at the 6th HLTFI
to facilitate investments and resolve issues relating to UAE Investments into
India.
The two sides reviewed and expressed satisfaction
on a number of significant achievements and areas of progress made by the Task
Force since its creation in 2012, including (i) the signing of a bilateral
agreement for the promotion and protection of investments, which is now being
renegotiated as a
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) (ii) the UAE’s
contribution to India’s strategic petroleum reserve, (iii) ADIA’s participation
in India’s National Infrastructure Investment Fund as the first foreign
institutional investor and (iv) the positive
progress being made in addressing the clubbing issue of UAE investment entities
for the purpose of the foreign investment limit in Indian listed companies.
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court and Co-chair of the Task Force, expressed his appreciation
for the positive role the Indian community has played in the UAE across various
areas, which demonstrates the depth of friendship, trust and cooperation
that has developed between both countries.
Commenting on the seventh meeting of the Task Force,
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said that the activities of the UAE-India
Joint Task Force have and will continue to play an important role in promoting
bilateral investment and supporting our countries’ growth ambitions.
By providing a platform to strengthen the
dialogue between our countries, we have emerged with a
deeper understanding of each other’s key goals and objectives, which has
led to progress in a number of key areas.
Bilateral trade and investment between the UAE
and India is growing at an encouraging rate. Through the initiatives we
discussed today, and others, we are confident this growth will continue.
Goyal added that UAE-India High Level Joint Task
Force on Investments is an important pillar of our deep economic
relations.
It is a platform to communicate our mutual
requirements and vision for the future, and has helped boost bilateral
investments and cooperation. UAE is one of the largest investors in India and
one of our most important trading partners, and will also help India in our
goal of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy.
In this context, he further added that the
discussions will go a long way in promoting ease of doing business and
investments in both our countries, which will help in economic growth and
development of our people.