NEW DELHI: India’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with her third-largest trading partner UAE will swell the bilateral trade between the two nations drastically, foster the Indian economy, open many markets and leave positive impacts on the Gulf region, said Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday in Mumbai.
Accompanied by his UAE counterpart Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, at India-UAE Economic Partnership Summit, Goyal said, “If our exports which are now at USD 36 billion grows, as we are planning, my own guess is this partnership can go up to USF 250 billion bilateral trade on both sides. My sense is that this is big boost to economic growth and jobs. The opportunity it opens is not just in in the UAE alone but in the African region. It should significantly bump up the Indian economy as well.”
“This will give a big boost to economic growth and create jobs. The opportunity it opens is not in the UAE alone but also in the African region. It should significantly help the Indian economy as well.”
India, followed by Israel, is the first country with whom UAE signed CEPA. The CEPA between India and UAE which came into existence on May 1 was processed in just 88 days. On that very day, India exported gems and jewellery items worth USD 1 million.
“UAE is a well-known trading hub, transit point, whether it’s for passengers or goods and services. They have a very vibrant and easy-to-do business ecosystem,” the Union minister of commerce said.
The agreement will uplift the GDP of UAE by 1.7 per cent, said UAE Minister of Economy, Al Marri said. “CEPA is very agile and nimble. It has prohibitions for future discussion on the digital economy and digital trade,” he added.
Goyal added that the pact would not only open doors for Indian businesses to UAE but also other countries as UAE is a transit point for large parts of Africa, CIS, and the Gulf region.
CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Tajikistan.
In recent years, India has seen a massive jump in the flow of FDI from the UAE. CEPA is expected to multiply the figures according to authorities.
“The FDI from UAE to India was USD 380 million in 2019 and in 2020-21 it was USD 2.1 billion, during the pandemic, even before signing CEPA,” UAE Ambassador to India Ahmed Al Banna said in Mumbai.