Saudi Arabia is considering setting up an office of its sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in India to facilitate investments in the country.
The country also plans on investing in Indian start-ups through venture capital.
In a similar move, India also said it would also push for opening of an office of ‘Invest India’ – the government-affiliated body for attracting foreign investments to India – along with the apex chamber FICCI in Riyadh.
The plans were announced by Investment Minister, Khalid A. Al Falih and India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal at the India-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum held in Delhi on Monday.
Al Falih said within the next few weeks, he would send a delegation to India to explore the opportunity.
He said the delegation would explore Gift City in Ahmedabad, along with Mumbai and New Delhi for the proposed office for sovereign wealth fund.
The Saudi minister’s comments came in response to Goyal’s suggestion on ‘Invest India’, along with FICCI and some officials of the commerce and industry ministry as part of it, opening an office in the Saudi capital city, to aggressively woo and facilitate investment from the country to India.
Al Falih quipped, saying: “I will match your offer and commit today that we will open an office in India for investment facilitation. We are talking about bi-directional (facilitation).”
The Saudi minister also highlighted his interest in investing in Indian start-ups which cater to the Saudi markets via venture capital funds.
“Hopefully in the next few weeks we will create a joint agreement between our national venture capital fund and their counterpart in India to channel venture capital and funding to startups that will have the opportunity to leverage our two markets,” he said.
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