By IANS
New Delhi : India and Mexico Monday signed a pact to protect investments made by companies on either side in a bid to push bilateral economic cooperation.
Called the Agreement on Bilateral Protection and Promotion of Investments, the pact will be valid for a period of 10 years and serve as a catalyst to boost investment flows between the two countries, an official statement said.
"The pact requires each country to encourage and create favourable conditions for investors of the other country to make investments in its territory and to admit investments in accordance with its laws," the statement added.
Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Mexican Minister of Economy Eduardo Sojo signed the agreement.
"The term 'investment' includes every asset, including intellectual property rights, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country in which the investment is made," the statement said.
The principles of most favoured nation treatment have also been inserted in the agreement, even as it provides for free repatriation of funds of an investor of either country.
Chidambaram observed that in the past decade, India-Mexico bilateral trade had grown five times to reach almost $2 billion, while investments in Mexico by Indian investors had crossed $1.5 billion.
He said since Mexico was a member of some important regional groupings like the North American Free Trade Area, which includes the US, Brazil and Canada, the new pact will go a long way in boosting India's economic ties in the area.
Sojo, while mentioning that this was the first major pact signed by the present government, also said bilateral trade and investments between the two countries had grown manifold and assured all possible comfort to Indian investors.
India and Mexico have several bilateral agreements in areas spanning technology, science, culture, economic cooperation, tourism, visas, small and medium firms, banking, telecommunications, education, trade and industrial cooperation.