Dubai:
The new investment law that will allow foreign companies to increase their stake by more than 49 per cent, could be ready by next year, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the UAE Minister of Economy said Monday.
“The investment law has been discussed over the years and now it is ready to be presented to the FNC [Federal National Council]. The government will identify certain sectors that will be liberalised by which foreign companies can increase the stake by more than 49 per cent,” Al Mansouri, told reporters on the sidelines of the UAE India partnership summit.
Currently, foreign companies can own up to 49 per cent in the UAE companies. The change could potentially attract more investments into the country.
The minister expects UAE GDP to grow by 2-3 per cent next year.
“I’m very positive about this year. The prediction is that oil prices will increase a little bit. The UAE is in a good position and there are no concerns pertaining to growth,” Al Mansouri said. “The world situation has stagnated in general. The situation in the world is not that optimistic, that does not mean we should stop growing. The agenda on innovation is continuing. This is a build-up to the Expo 2020, tourism is also growing.”
Regionally, they will look at the political situation in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Libya. The UAE will look to positive developments in India and China, the world’s fastest growing economies, and also large trading partners of the country.
India-UAE trade is more than $50 billion (Dh183.65 billion). Over the past 10 years, the country had a bilateral trade of half a trillion dollars.
Al Mansouri, while addressing the delegates, said India’s direct investment to the UAE stood at $6.4 billion, while UAE’s direct investment in India stood at $4.4 billion.
“You will be surprised by the amount and growth of investments in India as we move ahead,” Al Mansouri said.
India’s ranking
India, which ranked at 130 in the last year in terms of ease of doing business, has jumped the rankings, and the jump is the biggest for any country, according to Navdeep Singh Suri, India’s Ambassador to the UAE.
The World Bank publishes the rankings of countries in terms of doing business, and according to Suri, the 2018 rankings will be out today.
“The constellation of stars is so uniquely aligned that all the pointers are favourable and we must make use of this moment that we have before us,” Suri said, adding there are very few countries in the world offering scale, stability and growth like India.
“In coming months we will see strong UAE investments into sectors like renewable energy, ports, logistics, and real estate,” Suri said, adding investors are banking on 500 million people, which will get added to the middle class in the coming years.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority earlier in the month announced an investment of $1 billion in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), marking the start of India’s ambitious attempt to raise equity funds for the infrastructure sector.
