india keen to shore up foreign direct investments from Uae, GCC

ANNUAL FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) from the GCC to India stood at $1.4 billion in 2016, according to the Unctad, and a large chunk of these investments were from the UAE at more than $1 billion.

However, efforts are now to shore up these numbers and bring the private sector into the fold.

“We are now looking at increasing the expanse of investments and bring in private sector into the fold. We want to have a forward looking pathway. The top leadership in the UAE is impressed that we are no longer talking just about projects but have a vision for India. They have said that they are willing to invest in the vision, and would also like to facilitate investments through interactions with other foreign sovereign wealth funds,” said Suresh Prabhu, India’s minister of commerce and industry.

India has also proposed a free trade agreement with the UAE and is awaiting a response on that. “The UAE imports quite a lot in terms of food and agriculture items. We can ensure food security of the UAE through such agreements,” said Prabhu.

In terms of FDI, India ranks high in terms of outbound investment into the UAE.

“We are into all spheres of activities: trading, services, steel manufacturing companies. But there are no big ticket investments so far. We are now looking at shoring such investments and have been talking at high level for it to realise.”