Govt to open Invest India office in Dubai to attract UAE investments: Goyal

Goyal, who was addressing the media after the 12th meeting of India-UAE High-Level Task Force on Investment held here, also announced that the first overseas campus of the IIFT

The government has decided to open an office of Invest India in Dubai to serve as a dedicated point of contact for potential UAE investors seeking to invest in India, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

Goyal, who was addressing the media after the 12th meeting of India-UAE High-Level Task Force on Investment held here, also announced that the first overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will be set up in Dubai, which will be a boon for the 3.5 million-strong Indian community residing in the UAE.

During the meeting, co-chaired by Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the two sides reviewed progress on several key initiatives and expressed satisfaction at the rapid pace of implementation.

These initiatives include bilateral trade in local currencies, the integration of payment systems of India and the UAE, cooperation on Central Bank Digital Currencies, the launch of work relating to a Virtual Trade Corridor and the development of a food park in Ahmedabad.

"India-UAE partnership stands on the pillars of innovation, investment and sustainable development. The Joint Task Force meeting today was useful to take stock of all the laudable initiatives that India and the UAE have jointly undertaken, such as local currency settlement, virtual trade corridor, Bharat Mart, and so on," Goyal said.

"With the strong framework now provided by India-UAE CEPA and Bilateral Investment Treaty, I encourage stakeholders to further explore investment opportunities and trade possibilities," he added.

The Task Force was established in 2013 to promote trade, investment and economic ties between India and the UAE.

The Joint Task Force reviewed the working of the India-UAE CEPA, which was one of the fastest-ever negotiated Free Trade Agreements.

As a result of the deal, bilateral trade has risen consistently, with non-oil trade rising to $28.2 billion in the first half of 2024, a 9.8 per cent year-on-year increase, said Goyal.

Considering the strategic agreements and initiatives signed during the recent official visit of Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to India, the two sides noted the existing and future investments and projects of UAE entities in key sectors of the Indian economy, including energy, artificial intelligence, logistics, food and agriculture, which total approximately $100 billion, an official release said.

The meeting also reviewed UAE investments in Indian infrastructure assets, an official release said.

The UAE continues to be the largest Arab investor in India, with investments amounting to around $3 billion in FY 2023-24. The UAE was the sixth-largest FDI source for FY 2023-24 and the seventh-largest overall since 2000.

Over 70 per cent of all GCC investments come from the UAE. The new India-UAE Bilateral Investment Treaty, which entered into force on August 31, 2024, will further strengthen two-way investment flows, it said.

Food parks are among areas for greater collaboration and investments between India and the UAE. It will lead to higher income for farmers, job creation in the food processing sector, and enhance food security for the UAE, Goyal said.

On the bilateral investment treaty (BIT), the minister said that it will certainly help in increasing confidence among the investors, it will certainly give a predictable and stable tax regime confidence and the ability to get recourse in case somebody feels that they are not going to fail.

"In the various issues that we discussed today, some of our Indian companies believe that there are some issues with the UAE and likewise some UAE companies may have issues with India. BIT will help provide a framework, by which both sides can resolve these issues," Goyal said.

To augment the relationship, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), via its international subsidiary NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) is collaborating with Al Etihad Payments (AEP), to enable creation of domestic card scheme JAYWAN in UAE, the Government said.

The JAYWAN card scheme is an outcome of deep collaboration between NIPL and AEP. It is based on the RuPay card stack, which is shared with the AEP to enable UAE to be sovereign in the area of digital payments, it said.

The two governments are now working on interlinking the two national payment platforms 'UPI (India) and AANI (UAE), which will facilitate seamless cross-border transactions between the two countries, according to the minister.

The Indian Government has also decided to open an office of Invest India in Dubai, UAE, to serve as a dedicated point of contact for potential UAE investors seeking to invest in India.

This will be the first such overseas office of Invest India in the Middle East region and its second overseas office overall after Singapore, Goyal said.

The two sides also expressed satisfaction with the progress being made by Bharat Mart, which is expected to propel India-UAE bilateral trade further by leveraging Jebel Ali Port's strategic location and strength in logistics and further boosting India's exports to the world.

Work on the ground has commenced, and design work on the layout of retail spaces and warehousing is making rapid progress, according to the Government.