UAE companies feel process to invest in India has become clean, seamless: Piyush Goya

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Noting that companies in the UAE now feel that the process to invest in India has become seamless and clean, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said that they appreciate the mindset of the political leadership and are looking to engage in a much bigger way.

The minister, who earlier in the day co-chaired a meeting of UAE-India High-Level Joint Task Force, said investors in UAE had conveyed that they do not have to worry about extraneous considerations while doing business in India.

“I am gratified to see the confidence that the UAE government and investors have in the political leadership in India, the confidence they have in PM Modi’s approach to problem-solving, approach to promoting country and approach to systemic resolution and policy-driven resolution of issues that come up in a very transparent and honest manner,” he said.

Two-three big investors whom I met deeply appreciated the fact that now doing business in India is clean and honest. They said that now they don’t have to worry about extraneous considerations. That is the biggest attraction, they said. One company said I want to invest in 25 locations in India to set up operations. I asked how do you find it when you are working in India. He said that the best part of working it is absolutely clean,” the minister said.

Goyal said the investor told him that he had set up a big project in Lucknow and “had no problem at all, seamless implementation”.

The minister said investors in India have a lot of positivity about the country’s future.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the investors in India who have let bygone be bygones but have a lot of positivity about the future. They have appreciated the role of bureaucracy in India, whose mindset has also changed significantly,” he said.

“Many investors spoke about at dinner last night and during my bilaterals. This new India that they are seeing I think is a source of inspiration for them to look at engaging with India in a much bigger way,” he added.

The ninth meeting of the UAE-India High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments on Saturday discussed ongoing efforts to amend the longstanding Bilateral Investment Treaty and noted the importance of concluding the negotiation process as soon as possible.

The meeting was co-chaired by Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Senior officials representing government authorities and various investment entities from both countries took part in the meeting.

Piyush Goyal on Friday inaugurated the Indian Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. (ANI)