DTAA talks

Singapore’s #Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will hold talks with #Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on December 30 to modify the bilateral #Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to take bilateral economic ties to the next level, Press Trust of India reported.

“The two leaders aim to conclude the protocol to amend DTAA, which will modify the capital gains tax exemption,” Indian High Commissioner Jawed Ashraf said on Dec 28.

As in the case of India’s DTAA with #Mauritius, to which the DTAA with #Singapore was linked, the #Capital Gains Tax exemption provision in the DTAA will be phased out within a defined time frame, he said.

The meeting is pursuant to discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in New Delhi during the Singapore leader’s visit in October.

Modi had suggested that a working group chaired by senior Ministers be designated from both sides to explore ways to further strengthen the strong economic ties and accelerate investment flows between India and Singapore.

“This underlines the importance that India attaches to the growing and wide ranging strategic partnership with Singapore and the key place that Singapore occupies in India’s external economic engagement and the Act East Policy,” Jawed Ashraf said.

Singapore is already the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India with cumulative FDI inflow amounting to USD 50.6 billion from April 2000 to September 2016.

Singapore was the largest source of FDI into India with USD 13.7 billion in 2015-16.

Singapore is among the top destinations for Indian investors as well who have put in more than USD 45 billion worth of investment in the country.

While the framework agreements between the two countries, such as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the DTAA, have contributed to the emergence of Singapore as the major source and destination of investments for India, it is also the result of the business environment in Singapore and its role as a major financial, logistics and business centre in the region, the High Commissioner said.

During his two day visit, Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for Social and Economic Policies, and Jaitley will also explore new and innovative ways to promote bilateral investment flows.

“The meeting between the two ministers, on December 30 will be a step towards taking bilateral economic ties to the next level,” said the High Commissioner.

This will be Tharman’s third visit to India this year.

He delivered the inaugural NITI Lecture Series on Transforming India in August and visited the country in April. fii-news.com