 "UAE-India CEPA deal paying off on every economic front: UAE Min Al Zeyoudi")
The landmark UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is paying off on every economic front, with the benefits of its integration far broader than just trade, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said on Tuesday.
India and the UAE inked CEPA on February 18 last year to boost trade ties following a virtual summit between Prime Minister Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
India has been given certain duty concessions on the import of gold from the UAE under the CEPA.
The agreement was officially implemented on May 1 last year.
"Indian business owners have been spurred to pursue new opportunities in the UAE since the deal was signed, with 11,000 new companies registering with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in 2022, bringing the total to more than 83,000," Al Zeyoudi wrote in the Dubai-based Gulf News newspaper.
There is little question that the CEPA will come to be regarded as a significant milestone in the history of the UAE," he wrote.
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Specifically, it was the nation's first bilateral deal as part of its new national strategy to reimagine the economy as an open global hub for trade, talent, technology and targeted investment, he wrote in the column.
"The benefits of greater UAE-India integration have been far broader than just trade," he emphasised.
Earlier this week, Al Zeyoudi, held a bilateral meeting with Piyush Goyal, the Commerce and Industry Minister in New Delhi, to celebrate the first year of CEPA.
"By removing or reducing tariffs on 80 per cent of goods, eliminating unnecessary barriers to trade and opening government procurement to each other's private sector, the UAE-India CEPA carried the potential to more than double the value of bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2030," he explained.
"There are already signals that the numbers will go higher still," he said.
"When we launched the CEPA, we anticipated that the deal would add 1.7 per cent - or USD 8.9 billion -- to the UAE's GDP and increase exports by 1.5 per cent. We are on course to surpass those numbers," he wrote.
"Initial figures show that, for the first 12 months of the CEPA, the value of non-oil trade reached USD 50.5 billion, an increase of 5.8 per cent on the corresponding period a year earlier," he added.
India and the UAE are looking at ways to increase trade in value-added gold and gold products, Goyal said on Monday.
The UAE is a major destination for India's gems and jewellery.
The UAE accounts for about 15 per cent of India's exports from this sector.
The overall gross exports of gems and jewellery dipped to USD 37.5 billion in 2022-23 against USD 39.33 billion in 2021-22, according to the data of the gems and jewellery export promotion council.
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