Two Japanese banks set to start operations in GIFT City: IFSCA chief

Source: The Economic Times

Singapore: GIFT City, the tax-free zone in Ahmedabad, is set to welcome two new Japanese banks to its financial sector, which already has 10 foreign and 16 local banks operating there, an official said. The GIFT City has more than 550 businesses with assets worth USD 47 billion that have registered and started their operations, according to International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) chairman K Rajaraman. He said that the GIFT City’s financial sector is expected to contribute to India’s economic growth.

Rajaraman also said that he wants funds and businesses of Indian origin that are based in tax-free jurisdictions to come back to India and join the growing GIFT City hub. He said that the GIFT City has become a benchmark for international standards in terms of ease of doing business procedures, processes, and laws. He was giving this update on the city's free trade zone at the Singapore Fintech Festival, which was held from 15-17 November 2023.

IFSCA is the regulatory body for the Indian special economic zones such as the GIFT City.

Rajaraman said that his recent visit to Tokyo resulted in two Japanese banks signing up for the GIFT City, and he expects more to follow as he continues to talk to potential businesses at the Singapore Fintech Festival. He said that he was at the festival to promote the benefits of being in the Tax-Free GIFT City.

He said that GIFT City has a vibrant business community that the Indian government wants to integrate with the global financial network. He said that there are 78 fund managers with 88 alternative investment funds, 82 funds with a corpus of USD 90 billion, five insurance companies, and two stock exchanges - GIFT CITY Nifty of National Stock Exchange and a bullion exchange - that are already part of the GIFT City. He said that he believes that a lot of businesses focused on India will work out of the GIFT City and that there is a lot of fast growth happening there. He also said that 122 aircraft assets have been leased out from the tax-free city.

He said that there are three electronic trading platforms in the GIFT City that offer international trade finance solutions for bill factoring. He also said that there are insurance companies with international joint venture partners in the GIFT City.

The Singapore Fintech Festival had 650 companies from across the world participating in it.