Historic pact to immensely facilitate trade and investment further cementing strategic ties between India and UAE: FIEO

Ludhiana, February 18, 2022: Complimenting and expressing his gratitude to the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for signing the historic India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the first in the last 12 year with a major economy, Dr A Sakthivel, President, FIEO said that such a comprehensive agreement has been concluded in a record time, which bespeaks of the enormous trust and confidence between the top leadership of the two countries. FIEO Chief also thanked the Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister for proactively leading the negotiations at a breadth taking speed and finalising it in such a short time.
 
The CEPA will open vistas of opportunity of trade, both of goods and services, besides investment between India and UAE. UAE is currently India's second largest export destination next only to the US and our exports growth to UAE has been very encouraging in the past, added President, FIEO. In the first nine months of the current financial year, our exports to the UAE have already crossed US$ 20 Bn. While exact tariff concessions are not known, a CEPA with UAE will be extremely beneficial to Indian exports particularly for the labour-intensive sectors like agriculture and processed food including meat and marine products, gems & jewellery, apparel & textiles, leather & footwears as well as other sectors like engineering, organic chemicals, plastics, paper & paper products, iron & steel, electrical and electronics, automobile and auto components and pharmaceuticals. Having a large Indian diaspora, UAE consumes a large quantity of Indian cereals, fruits & vegetables, tea, spices, sugar, etc. Indian companies will gain in services like travel & tourism, transportation, IT & ITES and construction services.
 
The FTA will result in exponential growth in India's exports to UAE and also will open the market to other GCC countries, said FIEO Chief, as GCC countries also follow the same technical standards as applicable to UAE paving the way for greater market access to Indian goods in GCC market. This may be used as a template for similar agreements with the GCC countries.
 
UAE is also a re-distribution centre and a financial hub. Much of exports to Africa is routed through Dubai. The signing of FTA will encourage setting up of warehousing/distribution centres in the UAE for exports to Africa. Lot of African buyers come to Dubai and place orders from there itself and thus showcasing Indian goods in UAE will be a very good strategy for marketing our products and services in the African continent said Dr Sakthivel. The proposal to set up an “India Mart” in Dubai will further supplement this objective.
 
The CEPA will facilitate investment through sovereign funds of the UAE in various facets of infrastructure as well as in some of the sectors identified under the PLI Scheme. UAE companies will be encouraged to produce in India and cater to both Indian and UAE markets with duty free access now, opined FIEO Chief.