“A key focus area of talks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE on August 16-17 is expected to be the Gulf country’s estimated $800 billion sovereign wealth fund that India will seek to tap for infrastructure projects.”
Prime Minister Shri.Narendra Modi, whose foreign visits over the past year was aimed at attracting much needed foreign investment to boost the economy, would try to lure a share from $800-billion sovereign fund of the UAE for infrastructural needs as well as give momentum to Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPA) that has not functioned to its potential to attract investments.
Buoyed by the oil economy, UAE sovereign wealth fund is estimated at over $800 billion and Modi would like to attract part of this fund, imperative for the country’s infrastructural needs estimated at one trillion dollars, officials hinted.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is the sovereign wealth fund owned by Emirate of Abu Dhabi (in the UAE) founded for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It manages the Emirate’s excess oil reserves and is one of the world’s largest investment funds.
The two sides had signed the BIPA two years back but it has not functioned smoothly. It is also expected that Modi’s first visit to the UAE on August 16-17 can give confidence to UAE’s investors, some of whom did not have a smooth run here.
The deal was signed in December 2013 to ensure protection of crossborder investments by India and the UAE. It was aimed at accelerating investments and giving a fresh impetus to stalled joint venture projects. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit to the UAE in November 2014 had assured that the Modi government is committed to implementing the BIPA. The two-way trade has declined from a record high of $75.45 billion in 2012–13 to $59.54 billion in 2013-14 due to curbs on gold imports.
Currently, the UAE investments in India are estimated to be $8 billion of which around $3.01 billion is in the form of foreign direct investment, while the rest is portfolio investment. UAE’s investments in India are concentrated mainly in five sectors: construction development (15.52%), power (13.09%), metallurgical industries (9.90%), services (9.58%), and IT (4.90%) sectors.
Prasanta Patnaik