Sharma calls for re-energizing India-GCC FTA talks.

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Anand Sharma today urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take the lead in re-energizing the negotiations for concluding the India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) FreeTrade Agreement (FTA) negotiations which have been stalled for a while.

At a bilateral meeting with UAE Minister for Foreign Trade Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi here, he also pointed out that bilateral trade between India and the UAe did not reflect the full potential and could be further exploited to the mutual advantage of both countries.
 
Mr Sharma said this was despite the fact that the UAE was India's top partner among the GCC countries and its second largest trading partner in the world, after China.
 
He also said that, although bilateral trade between the two countries had grown tremendously, the capital flows had remained miniscule.
 
He highlighted the opportunities for increased investments from the UAE in India, especially in infrastructure sector in areas such as power and utilities, roads and highways, ports, aviation, telecommuniations and urban infrastructure.
 
Mr Sharma said India was committed to strengthening and expanding cooperation with the UAE in other sectors such as construction, downstream products in the petroleum and natural gas sector, agriculture and food processing, science & technology, renewable energy, IT, education, training, health and financial services.
 
Pointing out that India is a major exporter of textiles, he also hoped the UAE government would give special concessional treatment to textile imports from India.
 
He also expressed the desire of Indian companies to invest in UAE in energy intensive manufacturing, infrastructure, services, tourism and hospitality, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, financial services, agro-based value chain and education.
 
Along with this, Mr Sharma conveyed to the UAE Minister India’s desire to “take part in UAE’s projects in the oil, railways, construction and other sectors.
 
Mr Sharma also addressed an India Business Meet in Dubai, at which he assured investors and businessmen of India's determination to rationalize and simplify the procedures for foreign direct investment (FDI).
 
He outlined the recent policy initiatives taken by the Government and urged investors to take advantages of the opportunities becoming available in India.
 
“I share your concern about delay in clearances. We are working seriously in that direction. The first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Investment examined projects in the oil and gas and decisions will be taken in 30 days flat,” he said.
 
Mr Sharma said India needed to get back to 9 per cent growth and later to have double digit growth and sustain it for at least two and a half decades.
 
He also agreed with the need of the investors to be assured of stability and predictability of tax regime. “The Government is working on it and Goods and Services Tax is being pushed with all sincerity," he said.


Source : netindian.in