The CEPA will boost bilateral trade from the current $60 billion to $100 billion in the next 5 years
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Hailed as ‘historic’, India and UAE signed the India-UAE CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) on February 18, 2022. India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that India and UAE were entering a golden era of economic and trade cooperation with the signing of the India-UAE CEPA. The CEPA will boost bilateral trade from the current $60 billion to $100 billion in the next 5 years.
“The deal is done! Signed the pathbreaking #IndiaUAECEPA along with the UAE Minister of Economy H.E Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri. The sky is the limit for our trade & economic ties as we commit to building a shared future & enhancing the prosperity of our people,” Goyal tweeted. He also added that both nations were entering a golden era of economic and trade cooperation with the signing of India-UAE CEPA.
The trade deal between India and UAE is important as the heads of both the countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, will now hold another round of talks over economic and trade cooperation.
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India’s major exports to the UAE include petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, food items such as cereals, sugar, fruits and vegetables, tea, meat, and seafood, textiles, engineering and machinery products, and chemicals.
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India’s top imports from the UAE include petroleum and petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, chemicals and wood and wood products. India imported USD 10.9 billion of crude oil from the UAE in 2019-2020.
The formal talks over CEPA started in September 2021 when Goyal and Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade, launched negotiations on the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi and a high-level UAE delegation travelled to New Delhi to hold talks aimed at improving bilateral economic relations, including expanding the existing trade and investment relationship.
Looking to build on the progress made by both countries under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in 2017, both Ministers expressed a desire to reach a mutually beneficial economic deal. Both sides will aim to conclude negotiations by December 2021 and sign a formal agreement in March 2022 after the completion of internal legal procedures and ratification.
Both Ministers emphasized that CEPA would create new jobs, raise living standards, and provide wider social and economic opportunities in both nations. A new strategic economic agreement is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods to USD 100 billion within five years of the signed agreement and increase trade in services to USD 15 billion.
The UAE is also the eighth-largest investor in India, having invested $11 billion between April 2000 and March 2021, while investment by Indian companies in the UAE is estimated to be over $85 billion.
The UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner with bilateral trade in 2019/2020 valued at USD 59 billion. The UAE is also India’s second-largest export destination after the US, with exports valued at approximately USD 29 billion in 2019-2020. India was the UAE’s second-largest trading partner in 2019, with bilateral non-oil trade valued at USD 41 billion. The UAE is the eighth-largest investor in India, having invested USD 11 billion between April 2000 and March 2021, while investment by Indian companies in the UAE is estimated to be over USD 85 billion.
India’s major exports to the UAE include petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, food items such as cereals, sugar, fruits and vegetables, tea, meat, and seafood, textiles, engineering and machinery products, and chemicals. India’s top imports from the UAE include petroleum and petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, chemicals and wood and wood products. India imported USD 10.9 billion of crude oil from the UAE in 2019-2020.