Under the aegis of India Arab Economic Forum (IAEF), the special initiative of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), organised the first India-Arab Investment Projects Conclave on April 18-19, 2008 at New Delhi with an objective to develop vibrant economic, social and cultural bonds between India and the Arab countries.

FICCI-IAEF brought together invaluable experience and expertise of professionals from cross section of stake holders namely: industry, institutions and governments, who have significantly contributed in their operational domain in India, Middle East and North African countries.

Business delegations from 13 Arab Countries namely: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Sudan participated in the two-day Conclave and met over 200 business delegates from India and discussed investment opportunities worth US$150 billion.

The Conclave was inaugurated by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Hon'ble External Affairs Minister of India. In his Inaugural Address, he said, the association between India & the Arab World through commerce spanned many centuries of our common history. Until 13th century, the silk route between Asia and the Middle East was one of the world's busiest and most important trade routes.

Mr. Mukherjee underlined that in today's evolving global dynamics, the regions assumed enhanced importance and it was up to the Governments and private sectors of both India and the Arab countries to workas partners and create a more responsive climate that would allow this new silk route to achieve its fullest potential.

The Inaugural Session focused on the latest developments in the Arab economy, its performance, its strengths and the challenges it faced. The other speakers also highlighted the various investment opportunities in India and its co-relation with economic reforms. The Inaugural Session was also graced and addressed by H.E. Mr. Salman Sulieman Al Safi, State Minister, Ministry of Investment, Republic of Sudan; H.E. Saleh M Al-Ghamdi, Dean of Arab Corps & Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India; H. E. Ahmed Salem Al-Wahishi, Head of the Mission, League of Arab States Mission in India; Mr. Harsh Pati Singhania, Sr. Vice President, FICCI.

The Plenary Session followed the Inaugural Session. The theme of the session was "Issues in Doing Business in India & the Arab Countries". It was observed that the governments of India and the Arab countries had been very actively and intently engaged in carrying out liberalization, reforms and attracting FDIs. There has been a kind of a cross-border movement of capital and resources. Many Arab countries that had invested in India and a lot of Indian companies had not only invested in Arab countries, but had partnered with and had forged joint ventures with Arab companies. At the same time, Indian companies had added value to the rich mineral resources that Arab countries possessed.

Speakers expressed their concern that currently, no country from the Arab world figured amongst the top 10 countries investing in India. The total export-import activity between India and the Arab countries was $24 billion in 2007. In the Q&A session that followed, participants sought to highlight the importance of attracting sovereign funds into India as also the role of Islamic banks in accelerating the process of cooperation in financial sector.

The Conclave had special sessions on various sectors including Agri and Food Processing, Engineering and Construction, Banking & Financial sector, Education, IT & ITES, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Minerals and Metals, Oil & Gas (Upstream and Downstream), Infrastructure- (Rail, Road, Airports, Ports, Energy, Water, Communication, Real Estate, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Healthcare, Tourism, Manufacturing and Transportation for seeking & promoting JVs, technical collaboration and expanding the scale of operations in unexplored markets in both India and in Arab countries. These sectors were covered in parallel sessions and in each, a special sectoral overview was provided by KPMG.

Day 2 of the Conclave opened with a plenary session on 'Financing Projects: Regulatory Issues and Access to Funds'. Speakers stated that India had emerged as an attractive investment destination for foreign investments and at the same time, India had also emerged as an important overseas investor. It was observed that India was indeed well poised to step up trade and investment relations with the Arab region.

Speakers pointed that the new regulatory regimes were more investor friendly and these regimes had been re-aligned towards attracting investments. However, they mentioned that there were some restrictions on capital account transactions but they were still liberal, and foreign investors could acquire equity in Indian companies.

The rest of the day saw dedicated plenary sessions on the investment and project partnership opportunities existing in the states of West Bengal, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu as also the scope for partnerships in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Brief on the Session on West Bengal, Rajasthan & Tamil Nadu:

West Bengal had emerged as one of the top Indian states today with a most vibrant economic climate coupled with a highly educated and skilled workforce, strong work ethics and culturally diverse people driving the state's economy faster than ever. It has been the policy of the State Government to welcome both domestic and foreign investments and technology. A comprehensive and competitive package of measures and incentive concessions have been devised for attracting adequate investments from the private sector for developing sectors of the state economy.

Rajasthan, on its part, had laid high emphasis on the development of physical infrastructure and human resources along with encouraging public-private partnership to develop the state as one of the most preferred business destinations in India. The State Government had undertaken major initiatives in the fields of power, roads and water supply and urban infrastructure. It had adopted a multi-pronged approach to add 4.500 megawatt by 2011. Already, over 1,000 megawatt had been added in the last four years. Rajasthan was well on its course to become a power surplus state by December 2008.

Tamil Nadu offered lands in different industrial parks, structured package of incentives depending on the size of investments, good quality infrastructure, and single-window facilitation. Also discussed were the two Special Economic Zones of Perambur and Nanguneri. Both multi-product SEZs, these have been specifically treated as duty free enclaves for the purpose of industrial, tariff, service and trade operations with exemption from customs duties and a more liberal regime on levies, foreign investment and other transactions.

Brief on exclusive Country Session on Egypt and Saudi Arabia

The plenary session outlined the opportunities and advantages in doing business with Egypt. The participants were informed about some of the changes that had been initiated in Egypt's investment environment of late. Last 3-4 years witnessed significant reforms on both fiscal and monetary levels. Investments were being promoted in some of the non-traditional sectors such as mining, renewable energy, logistics and also in real estate, shipping, finance and other industries. Egypt has also been trying to encourage projects financed by Public Private Partnership schemes in developing roads, education, utilities, transport, healthcare, and higher education in its own country.

Saudi Arabia expressed its interest to invest in infrastructure projects in India and would like Indian investments in power, gas and oil and infrastructure sectors. Many Indian companies had taken advantage of 100 percent foreign ownership of companies in Saudi Arabia and were establishing themselves in ventures dealing with designing, financial services & software development. The construction of railways in Saudi Arabia offered India yet another avenue of opportunity.

The India-Arab Conclave proved to be an ideal destination for forging partnerships between Indian and Arab businessmen. Investment Promotion Agencies of Arab countries showcased their opportunities to Indian business delegates and sought partnerships with them. The Conclave also provided a unique opportunity for organizations engaged in project engineering, implementation and equipment supplies to meet with prospective project owners/implementing agencies.