By Moiz Mannan
After a gap of four years, India’s premier investment facilitation body is again turning to the Arabian Gulf seeking the participation of expats and nationals of the region in the economic growth of a bunch of its northern states.
The Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) was set up in 2007 based on the public-private model with the Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs (MOIA) collaborating with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to facilitate investment from abroad.
The centre’s primary job is to act as a link with the Indian diaspora and provide information and assistance in investment. It is supposed to serve as a one-stop shop for information, economic engagement, knowledge partnering, mentoring or building any other association with Indian states that helps overseas Indians, professionals and small and mid-sized entrepreneurs.
It works with the support of a network of ‘Knowledge Partners’, Indian states, Indian missions and Indian diaspora associations and is governed by a council of prominent Overseas Indians, senior policy makers from the government and industry leaders.
Besides organising investment forums on the sidelines of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (annual overseas Indians conclave) and at the ‘mini’ PBDs in different parts of the world, the OIFC also hosts visiting delegations of trade promotion agencies and associations from across the globe. To reach out to non-resident Indians (NRIs) the centre also holds ‘diaspora engagement meets’ at places with sizeable Indian populations abroad.
The first such meet in the Gulf was held in Muscat in 2008 and the second in the UAE in 2010. Now, it has announced plans to hold a diaspora engagaement meet in Bahrain on September 6. Another such meet will be held in London on the sidelines of the mini-PBD scheduled there in mid-October.
In her speech at the recent India-League of Arab States Media Symposium, the minister for external affairs, Sushma Swaraj, had emphasized the Narendra Modi-led government’s resolve to work closely with the Gulf countries to enhance trade and investment.
Besides the traditional oil trade, new areas that are emerging include tourism, agriculture, healthcare, infrastructure and real estate. It is in these areas that India is now seeking to boost NRI and foreign investment in a clutch of northern states.
The chief executive officer of OIFC, Charu Mathur, recently told the media that the engagement meets at Bahrain and London would target professionals and mid-sized entrepreneurs to explore trade and investment opportunities in the states of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand, HP, J&K and Rajasthan.
The OIFC’s partnering of northern states underlines the growing realization that they are gaining weight as manpower exporters to the Gulf in comparison to the southern states. With changing character and demographics of migration, India has done well to keep tabs on this matter and is therefore drawing attention to the northern states. States like UP, Uttarakhand, HP and J&K, for example, have massive unutilized potential in organized tourism, healthcare and horticulture. Given the right conditions, facilities and incentives, diaspora from these state would be eager to invest at home.
The Bahrain meet would be utilized to acquaint the Indian community in the GCC region with the various investment opportunities in India; seek inward investments from both Indian diaspora and GCC nationals and improve trade and investment ties in the Gulf with the support of the Indian
Sushma Swaraj, who also holds the overseas Indians affairs portfolio, is expected to inaugurate the Bahrain meet and Prem Narain, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, will be accompanied by a business delegation from India which would comprise industry leaders, officials from the Government, and heads of various MOIA led initiatives from various states.
The OIFC has decided to institutionalize five Diaspora Engagement Meets every year including USA, the UK, Singapore and Gulf region.
The Peninsula
