Looking at increasing investment opportunities, India and Oman today gave final touches to the setting up of the India-Oman Special Investment Fund at a time when the world is facing a shortage of liquidity, said top government sources after a delegation-level interaction between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sultanate of Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said.
The fund, to be set up with an initial seed money of $100 million could go up to $1.5 billion, the sources indicated. The fund has a term of two years and tha can be extended. Besides, the two countries also signed an agreement aimed at improving the working conditions of a large number of Indians working in Oman.
Manmohan Singh, who arrived here this afternoon on a day’s visit, met Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said later in the evening.
This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Oman in a decade. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had paid a state visit to Oman in 1998.
On his arrival the Prime Minister was accorded a reception generally reserved for the heads of State. The officials accompanying the Prime Minister said this was done as a special gesture and due to the importance which Oman attaches to its relations with India.
Manmohan Singh was received at the airport by the Omani Deputy Prime Minister (the country has no Prime Minister) and other senior Cabinet ministers as a gesture of special affinity between the two nations.
At the official level talks, the two sides discussed measures to intensify cooperation in the defence field by undertaking more high level exchanges of personnel and ships. The issue was discussed in depth with Oman by National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and defence secretary Vijay Singh with senior members of the Omani security establishment.
During the talks, the Prime Minister also raised the issue of expanding the capacity of Oman-India Fertiliser Company, which is one of India’s largest joint ventures abroad. The $969 million project went on stream in January 2006.
Officials here pointed out that with trade between India and Oman increasing by 40 per cent over the year, the fund would evolve into an “important gateway” for the inflow of funds in both countries. The “unique arrangement” could set the stage for similar agreements with other countries, which had surplus oil money funds at a time when the world was facing a credit squeeze.
The Prime Minister noted, “The current international economic and financial situation provides a unique opportunity for India to leverage the vast surplus funds in the Gulf for our development needs, and to accelerate trade and investment flows into each other’s countries.”
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the joint investment fund was signed between the State Bank of India and the State General Reserve Fund of the Sultanate of Oman. It would focus on infrastructure, tourism, health, telecom and urban infrastructure.
