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Dr. Thanibin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi
(Minister of State for Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates)
Mr Piyush Goyal,
(Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Government of India.)
Why closer ties between India and the United Arab Emirates will continue to create opportunity and boost prosperity
One year ago, on February 18, 2022, the United Arab Emirates and India began an exciting new chapter in our long and fruitful relationship. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and His Excellency Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, witnessed the UAE-India Comprehensive Agreement in New Delhi on Friday evening The signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement – a landmark agreement to strengthen strategic cooperation between our two countries and drive regional growth.
As the UAE’s first-ever bilateral trade agreement and India’s first bilateral trade agreement with a country in the MENA region, this is a true milestone, but more importantly, it reflects our strengths in economic openness and integration. common belief. By removing or reducing tariffs on more than 80% of our product lines, enhancing market access for service exports, facilitating investment inflows into priority sectors, and providing a platform for SMEs to collaborate and scale up, we are looking ahead to a new opportunity fraught with uncertainty Times world.
For the UAE, CEPA will provide our exporters with seamless access to the world’s fifth largest economy, with a burgeoning middle class and an emerging technology ecosystem. For India, it promises to be a gateway to the emerging economies of the Middle East and Africa and provide a vibrant, business-friendly platform for industry and innovators. For both of us, it will secure supply chains and provide a path to $100 billion in annual non-oil trade by the end of this decade.
Looking back, it seems remarkable that such a far-reaching and ambitious agreement was reached in less than three months. However, this deal was not concluded in a few months, but over more than 50 years of trust, cooperation and communication. The UAE-India CEPA is less an economic revolution than a logical next step in the two countries whose histories are indelibly intertwined.
In the year since it was signed and nine months since it was fully implemented, all indicators point to a deal that is not only welcome, but necessary in a challenging economic environment. In 2022, non-oil bilateral trade volume will reach US$49 billion, a 10% increase from 2021 and a big step towards our 2030 goal. India’s exports to the UAE rose by 26% and re-exports by 10%, underscoring our position as a key trade enabler. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce also reported that they registered 11,000 new Indian companies in 2022, bringing the total to over 83,000, which will further strengthen the economic and cultural ties between us.
Beyond the Balance Sheet
Of course, the success of CEPA is not just about data. We both lead our respective delegations to visit each other’s countries to further deepen these growing bilateral economic ties. March 2022, Sh. Goyal led a high-level delegation of senior government officials, Indian exporters and industry leaders to the UAE in an effort to inspire our businesses to collaborate more under the then-new CEPA ecosystem. Now, a little over a week ago, HE Al Zeyoudiled visited India leading a delegation of officials, business leaders and entrepreneurs, which has provided plenty of physical evidence that cooperation is being fostered.
In Bangalore, for example, a UAE delegation attended the opening of the Ducab Group’s new regional office, which will allow it to better serve the Indian energy and construction industries with its market-leading cable and metal products. Then, during the UAE delegation’s visit to the Uttar Pradesh Global Investor Summit, a review of $2.5 billion in investments by the UAE private sector in renewable energy, logistics, retail and food processing projects in India’s most populous state – all with the potential to create $20,000 jobs.
They follow several other key partnerships launched since May 2022, such as a 300 MW hybrid renewable energy project in Gujarat and sustainable food parks across India that will use advanced technologies to reduce waste and conserve water. Also last year, DP World launched the Dubai Incubator Centre, a technology accelerator platform in partnership with Invest India and Start-Up Kerala Mission to encourage innovation in the Indian logistics sector.
The complementarity of our relationship has not yet reached its true potential. If some of the recent post-CEPA investments from the UAE to India are any guide, then, as they say, the sky is the limit for our cooperation. There are a number of potentially groundbreaking initiatives in the pipeline, whether it’s a virtual trade corridor, or Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s possible opening of an office in GIFT City, Gujarat, India. We are preparing for a future of unlimited possibilities and win-win cooperation between our two countries.
It’s this dynamic joint venture that embodies the true potential of our CEPA: bringing together all forms of capital – human, technological and financial – to develop and deploy solutions that can have real world-changing impact.
The Changing Economic Landscape
Crucially, the UAE-India partnership will ensure that our two countries can capitalize on the changing global economic landscape – an evolving landscape with Asia at its core. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Asia-Pacific region will lead global growth this year, with GDP expected to expand by 4.6%. In the next five years, apart from China, ASEAN and South Asia will lead the world in both export and import growth.
A year ago, in the spirit of positivity and possibility, the UAE and India joined forces to embrace these new realities and put our nation on a path to greater growth and prosperity. We firmly believe that the UAE-India CEPA will not only be seen as an important turning point in our economic story, but also as a long-term model for cross-border cooperation.
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