HYDERABAD: The fact that India and Israel have renewed the double taxation avoidance pact is proof that Israeli investors are willing to invest in India, said Daniel Carmon, Israel ambassador to India.
He was speaking on the Indian government’s decision to add provisions to the protocols of the amended double taxation avoidance pact between India and Israel. The central government notified the protocol on Tuesday, the decision is a part of the government’s effort to curb the flow of black money. The move will allow exchange of information on tax related details between the two countries. The protocol was signed in October 2015, and took legal effect on December 19, 2016.
“We appreciate the efforts taken by the Indian government to make doing business easy in India,” said the ambassador who was speaking on ‘India and Israel Bilateral Trade & Relations’ at Federation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chamber of Commerce (FAPTCCI) on Wednesday.
“Trade between both the countries over the period of 25 years has gone from $200 million to $6 billion in the financial year 2014-15. More needs to be done and can be done to improve trade relations,” said Carmon. Both countries are members of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and now there have been rumours in the press that there are issues with FTA. If you agree that FTA is important then it could strengthen our relations better, he added.
Speaking on the contribution of Israel for Indian educational sector, he said, “At present 10 percent of foreign students studying at Israeli universities are Indian. For a small country like Israel this is a remarkable achievement.”
There are no universities in Israel that are not associated with a private company to promote research and development. This is an idea being shared here, the private firms act at bridges between academia and industry, he added.
On cooperation between the two countries in the field of agriculture, the ambassador said that, there are many Israeli firms that are already present in the Indian agricultural space. “We should establish something very sound, profound and stable in the field of agriculture,” he added.
Israeli firms in India has been assisting India through technology transfer like the drip irrigation system and has helped set up eight water desalination plants.
“We do have plans for working with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states with help from the Indian government. We are currently in the second stage of our planning. As of now there are no plans to set up a consulate in Hyderabad but we do have one close to Bengaluru. Our main operations are from New Delhi,” he added.
“The 25 years of diplomatic relations marks an important function for all those who have witnessed the progress of both countries coming together,” said Carmon.