India-UAE bilateral trade reaches $84.84 billion in FY23 due to CEPA

13 Jun '23

2 min read

Piyush Goyal, Union minister of commerce and industry and textiles (left), and Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, minister of state for foreign trade of the UAE (right). Pic: Piyush Goyal / Twitter

Insights

India and UAE held their inaugural CEPA Joint Committee meeting, setting a non-petroleum trade target of $100 billion by 2030.
The meeting marked a milestone with bilateral trade between both countries reaching an all-time high of $84.84 billion in 2022-23.
Both nations aim to further strengthen economic ties, especially focusing on MSMEs and start-ups.

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have successfully held the inaugural meeting of the Joint Committee (JC) of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The agreement has already produced early benefits with bilateral trade growth of approximately 16.5 per cent, hitting an all-time high of around $84.84 billion during the 2022-23 fiscal (FY23), according to the Union minister of commerce and industry and textiles, Piyush Goyal.

During the JC, both sides reviewed the bilateral trade under CEPA, agreed to activate established committees, sub-committees, and technical council under the agreement, and consented to a mutual exchange of preferential trade data every quarter for effective monitoring. The two countries discussed various aspects of the agreement's implementation and agreed to tackle potential impediments to its realisation. They also decided to form a UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC), focusing on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups, to strengthen economic ties and optimise CEPA benefits, India’s ministry of commerce and industry said in a press release.

The meeting also saw exchanges on World Trade Organization (WTO) matters, with the 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO set to take place in Abu Dhabi in late February 2024.

A high-level delegation from the UAE, led by Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, minister of state for foreign trade of the UAE, visited India on June 11-12, 2023. The meeting concluded with the signing of the agreed minutes of the first JC meeting of the India-UAE CEPA in the presence of both ministers.

The ministers also set a non-petroleum products trade target of $100 billion by 2030, up from the current $48 billion. They also participated in a B2B event organised by the Department of Commerce in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). At the event, Goyal stressed that the agreement has significantly transformed the India-UAE partnership, giving it fresh momentum. He reported a remarkable 12 per cent growth in India’s exports to the UAE, reaching $31.6 billion in 2022-2023.

Both ministers highlighted initiatives being discussed between the two sides, including virtual trade corridors, potential setup of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority offices in GIFT City, Gujarat, UPI partnership, and the potential development of a direct rupee-dirham trade system, the release added.

Zeyoudi reiterated the UAE Government's eagerness to strengthen bilateral relations by engaging in mutually important areas.

The B2B event saw extensive participation from business communities of India and the UAE, along with senior officials from both nations.

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