Arun Jaitley invites UAE to invest in NIIF

New Delhi: Seeking investments from the UAE, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday said investors from the Gulf region could participate in India's maiden sovereign wealth fund NIIF, which has been set up to fund infrastructure projects.

This was emphasised by Jaitley during his meeting with the visiting UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Al Mansoori here.

Both the countries also stressed on need for increasing cooperation in the fields of innovation and small and medium enterprises, a finance ministry statement said.

The UAE Minister noted that the various institutions from Gulf have already invested in sectors, like infrastructure. Jaitley highlighted investment opportunities available including the NIIF, it added.

The Rs 40,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) will have government holding of 49 per cent and the rest will be of private investors.

Mansoori reiterated that the different agencies of UAE will continue their efforts to widen their relationship with India in this regard.

With regard to the innovation, the UAE side mentioned that a strategy has been developed by them and they have also set up an Innovation Council to spearhead the activities.

Jaitley highlighted the steps taken on innovation in India including the recently launched Start Up India initiative.

"Both countries agreed to deepen their engagement in the area of innovation so as to harness respective capabilities in a mutually beneficial manner," the statement added.

The SME sector is critical for the growth of the economy and employment, Jaitley said, adding there was a need to mainstream the SMEs into the global value chains.

"It was also decided that the respective institutions and industry associations engaged with SMEs would cooperate to harness the growth of SME sector in both the countries," the statement added.