Fast-track mechanism on the cards to help Indian investors in UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has assured India it will provide necessary support to ensure speedy resolution of issues faced by Indian investors in the West Asian nation.

A high-level joint task force by both nations on investments has decided to set up ‘India Fast Track Mechanism’ in the UAE to help Indian businesses and investors, the department of commerce said on Tuesday.

The mechanism will also assist Indian companies to foray into the UAE market and expand. This was discussed at the 10th meeting of the UAE-India high-level joint task force on investments in Mumbai on Tuesday. The joint task force was co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and member of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. 

Another area of discussion was creation of a mechanism to carry out bilateral trade in local currencies, an official statement said.

“Referring to the ongoing discussions between the Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of the UAE on a unified payment interface as a common digital payments platform, both sides agreed to continue discussions,” the statement said.

It was decided that concerned authorities in both countries would explore establishment of integrated single-window solutions and virtual trade corridors to reduce costs and time involved in trade and investment related procedures.

Towards this, the department of economic development of Abu Dhabi will explore this area of cooperation with the concerned counterparties in India in order to agree a mutually beneficial implementation approach.

“During the last meeting of the joint task force, we had decided to fast-track the negotiations of CEPA, and we finalised the agreement in an unprecedented 88 days. I am sure the discussions we have had today on mutually beneficial areas like food security and bilateral trade in national currencies, will also see similar thrust from both sides,” the statement quoted Goyal as saying.

“The India-UAE relations are witnessing unprecedented momentum. We have a large number of opportunities for cooperation and increasing investments especially the key sectors like infrastructure and technology, especially fintech,” the statement added.

Both nations also reviewed the UAE’s request with respect to providing tax incentives to certain UAE sovereign investment entities under existing UAE-India Tax Treaty, and India’s response to provide the same under the existing domestic tax laws of India.

“It was agreed that bilateral discussions should continue to reach a mutually beneficial outcome which meets the policy objectives of both countries. In this context, the support provided to UAE sovereign entities through the Finance Act 2020 and subsequent issuance of notifications for tax exemption was noted and appreciated,” the statement said.