New Delhi: India and the United Arab Emirates are expected to sign a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection agreement (BIPA) during the official visit of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, which begins on December 12, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Monday.
The signing of the agreement is likely to facilitate fresh investments from the UAE, which is India’s 10 {+t} {+h} largest foreign investor.
At the moment there are apprehensions in the Arab world about India’s investment protection regime, as some investments from the UAE in India, including Etisalat, DP World and TAQA, ran into difficulties.
The absence of a BIPA, which is expected to provide sovereign guarantees for investments from the UAE here, almost derailed the Jet Airways’ attempts to sell a stake to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, which was firmed up in April.
Before the deal was inked, an Etihad delegation, which included Chief Executive Officer James Hogan, visited India and met the Ministers for Finance, Commerce and Civil Aviation to seek assurances on the safety of the investment.
UAE is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade having crossed $74 billion in 2012-13. It is also the tenth largest investor in India in terms of foreign direct investments and contributes significantly to India’s fuel needs. It is the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India.
Sheik Zayed is also the Managing Director of the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, a research firm, puts ADIA’s assets at $627 billion.
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