A $100 million ($38.5m) Oman-India joint investment fund will soon become a reality with the two countries set to sign the final agreement this week.
The Sultanate's Minister of National Economy and Deputy Chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki will sign the pact with his Indian counterpart during his visit to New Delhi between July 13 and 15.
The fund is expected to provide the much-needed fillip to bilateral investment and trade, an Indian Embassy press release has said.
A memorandum of understanding to set up India-Oman Joint Investment Fund was signed between the two countries during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Oman in November 2008. Although the initial corpus is $100 million, this can go up to $1.5 billion later. The State General Reserve Fund of Oman and State Bank of India will contribute the corpus money from Oman and India, respectively.
The projects
With this, Oman will become one of the first countries to sign a joint investment fund with India. The fund will be used to finance projects in tourism, infrastructure, health, telecommunication and urban infrastructure in either country.
The Sultanate is keen to diversify its oil and gas industry-based economy to a modern industrialised economy. While Oman needs investment in manufacturing, tourism, warehousing and other supporting industries, India is keen to develop its ports, highways, power, refineries, refrigeration and related industries.
The joint fund, apart from increasing bilateral commercial relations, will also enhance people-to-people contact, the statement said.
Trade between the countries touched $2 billion last year and is expected to touch $2.5 billion this year.
While over 100 Indian companies operate in the Sultanate, over 30 Omani companies are present in India. There has been a growing interest among Omani companies to invest in India in recent years.
For instance, Oman Oil Company last year acquired a 24 per cent stake in the 6-million tonnes refinery set up by Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd.
Source: Zawya