Indian financial centre seeks close ties with UAE entities

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), country’s first international financial services centre is keen to collaborate with UAE’s financial services centres which could result in mutual value creation, Ajay Pandey, managing director and CEO of GIFT City told Gulf Newsin an interview.

GIFT aspires to cater to India’s large financial services potential by offering global firms a world-class infrastructure and facilities. It aims to attract the top financial services firms and talent in the country and outside by providing high quality infrastructure and regulatory environment.

In a recent visit to the UAE, Pandey met top officials from both Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) to explore areas of potential cooperation.

“We have a lot to learn from these two international financial centers in the UAE. Their experiences and good practices will be of great importance for us to learn in building this young international financial centre. We do not see the UAE based financial centres as competitors, instead we seem them as great source of business opportunities,” said Pandey.

Natural synergies

Last week both DIFC and ADGM signed two separate memoranda of understanding (MoU) with GIFT for multi-level cooperation. The MoU with the DIFC covers areas ranging from sharing of best practices of mutual interest, exchange of information on banking, financial service and securities, legislation and regulation, cooperation in the area of training, assistance in organising seminars and conferences on selected issues enhancing the mutual development of the centres, and exchange of information on trends in relevant international financial services activities and products, in particular within the fintech field.

“India represents the UAE’s third largest trading partner as well as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and natural synergies between the two centres exist which will certainly benefit our respective clients. DIFC has provided a natural springboard from which Indian firms can access a concentrated pool of wealthy investors, all underpinned by English common law and unrivalled connectivity to the South to South corridor,” said Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority.

GIFT Citi’s partnership with ADGM focuses on initiatives that foster the developments of each respective financial markets. “The MoU between ADGM and GIFT provides a framework for the exchange of views and expertise in the fields of banking, financial services and securities regulation of each jurisdiction. It also enables both organisations to explore joint activities and training initiatives that will develop human capital capabilities and foster greater growth in both financial markets,” said Richard Teng, Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM.

Inspiration

GIFT intends to learn more from the experiences of setting up two successful international financial centres in the UAE. “There is a great deal of expertise and rich experience that can be tapped from the UAE financial centres. The regulatory framework, structural evolution and building of infrastructure in these centres will be source of inspiration for us,” said Pandey.

In its early stages of development GIFT targets to revolutionise India’s financial services sector by opening the door to both global and Indian financial services industry to participate in financial services business in India resulting cross border capital flows and talent pool targeting strong the strong economic growth.

The last decade has seen unprecedented growth in India’s financial services sector. The sector now employs over 3 million people, constitutes about 5 per cent of the GDP and has an estimated market capitalisation of over $200 billion (Dh734 billion).

As India experiences continued economic growth, the financial sector could generate about 10-11 million jobs and a GDP contribution of $350 to 400 billion by 2020. With a sustained growth and rapid development in technology and infrastructure, an increasing share of financial services would get centralised. McKinsey & Company’s market assessment report estimates potential of about 6 million centralised jobs across multiple service roles

source : gulfnews