NEW DELHI – India is wooing some of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), as the private equity funds explore investment opportunities in India. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with assets reported to be $ 627 billion. India's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma left Saturday for a two-day visit to United Arab Emirates where he will co-chair the first meeting of a high-level task force on investment with UAE on Monday, apart from substantive bilateral meetings. Sharma will also meet his counterpart UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, and will address businessmen/investor at Dubai today (Sunday). “We deeply value our relationship with UAE and view this country as our economic gateway to the entire gulf region. Our economic engagement has shown a lot of promise and on the trade front. However, if we look at the spectrum of investments, the UAE investments into India stand at a level, which is far less than the potential of cooperation between our two countries,'' Sharma said before leaving for the UAE. ''It is important to take stock of the opportunities which present themselves for private and public enterprises on both sides to invest in each other's economies and develop long-term investment partnerships,'' he added. The proposal to establish a joint task force on investments was agreed upon during the meeting between UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 27, 2011. The first meeting that will take place Monday will include key investment decision makers from UAE and India. The Indian side will include, apart from senior members of the government, major infrastructure financing institutions and banks in India such as IIFCL, ONGC-Videsh Ltd. (OVL), IL&FS, SBI, HSBC, Bank of Baroda, Deutsch Bank. A high level FICCI delegation of business leaders will also participate in the meeting. India will require investments to the tune of $1 trillion in infrastructure sector during the next five years with the private sector contribution estimated at 48 percent. A significant portion of these investments are expected to be in the form of equity, where FDI from countries such as the UAE would be welcome. Some of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds belong to the UAE. Bilateral trade between India and UAE during 2011-12 stood at $71.58 billion. In the calendar year 2012 bilateral trade stood at $73.81 billion. – SG/Agencies
