On 12th June 2023, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) successfully held the 1st Meeting of the Joint Committee (JC) of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in New Delhi, Delhi.
- The meeting was co-chaired by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI)and Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
Outcome of the meeting:
i.India-UAE have agreed to set a target of USD 100 billion for trade in non-petroleum products by 2030. Presently, the trade of non-petroleum products stands at USD 48 billion.
ii. They have also agreed to exchange services trade data, forboth preferential and on most favoured nation(MFN), on a quarterly basis.
iii. India and UAE have also agreed to set up an UAE-India CEPA Council(UICC), which will act as a vehicle for both the governments and the export-related private sectors to facilitate the implementation of CEPA by creating awareness and building partnerships, and organising business events in both India and UAE.
- As a Business to Business (B2B) collaboration mechanism, the UICC will focus on sectors like Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises(MSME), startups, women entrepreneurs, service sector participants to build economic linkages and optimize CEPA benefits.
iv. They have also agreed to set up various committees and sub-committees and technical councils with regard to the implementation of various provisions of the trade agreement such as trade in goods; customs facilitation; rules of origin; sanitary and phyto-sanitary and technical barriers to trade issues; trade remedies; investment facilitation; and economic cooperation.
- The trade agreement helps Indian exports from sectors like textiles, footwear, automobiles, gems, and jewellery, while UAE exporters are increasing shipments from iron and steel, aluminium and polymers.
Key highlights:
i.India and UAE reviewed the bilateral trade under the CEPA, and agreed to operationalize the established committees/sub-committees/technical council under the CEPA.
ii.The Ministers also exchanged their views on matters related to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- The 13th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC13) is set to be held in February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
B2B Event:
Union Minister Piyush Goyal and UAE’s Foreign trade Minister Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi pariticpated in the B2B event organized by the Department of Commerce(MoCI) in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Representatives from the business communities of India and the UAE, and senior officials participated in the event.
India-UAE Trade:
- During the Financial Year(FY) 2022-23, the bilateral trade between India and the UAE was growing at around 16.5% of USD 84.84 billion.
- India’s exports to the UAE saw a growth of 12% and reached USD 31.6 billion.
About Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA):
- It is a kind of free trade pact which covers negotiation on the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership.
- India has signed CEPAs with South Korea and Japan.
