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President Juan Manuel Santos announced that Colombia and India entered into an agreement to avoid double taxation, thus strengthening relations, both trade and economic, with the Asian country.
" Coincidentally, I received a call from our Ambassador to India (Juan Alfredo Pinto), and he said: We just entered into a double-taxation agreement with India, which is what Indian entrepreneurs were waiting for before coming to invest in Colombia&rdquo , said President Santos during the Assembly meeting of Familias en Accion (Families in Action), held last Friday in Buenaventura.
The agreement signed in New Delhi is intended to avoid Indian and Colombian investors from paying taxes twice, in the nation of origin of the investment, and afterwards in the country of destination, which will greatly facilitate trade relations.
The Head of State highlighted the increase in investment figures between both countries.
" Trade alone with India showed a 40% growth, Indian investment in Colombia has grown 50%. And that all happened in the Pacific. That is why I have said so many times, and I&rsquo ll say it again to the guilds and authorities in the Valle del Cauca region and the entire Pacific coast. The Pacific ocean is the ocean of the future. We have abandoned it, but we have to give it more importance everyday&rdquo , he said.
On the other hand, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism considered the agreement is an important step and strengthens the benefits of the investment agreement signed by both governments at the end of 2009.
" This also fosters and protects the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (IED) in both directions, through the establishment of a legal framework that is both fair and transparent&rdquo , said the Ministry of Trade.
The agreement is applicable to both investors and merchants, provided that the conditions in the agreement are met, added the entity when explaining that the benefits will extend to those who are subject to taxes by both countries, whether for work related reasons or for having properties or investments.
The entity also added that the agreement also allows the exoneration of income tax for shareholders and improves the quality of information for tax authorities, which facilitates control over tax evasion and elusion.
The ADT was entered into at the Ministry of Finance of India, by the Colombian Ambassador to India in New Delhi, and the Chairman of the of the Joint Tax Board of the former country, Sudhir Chandra.
