Historic India-UAE trade pact effective from May 1: Minister

Representative image: Reuters

The historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the UAE will come into effect on May 1, an Emirati minister said on Thursday. The agreement will provide significant benefits to Indian and UAE businesses, including enhanced market access and reduced tariffs.

Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi took to Twitter to announce that India and the UAE'S Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will come into effect on May 1. Are you ready for a new era of opportunity? #IndiaUAECEPA comes into effect on May 1, reducing tariffs, removing barriers to trade to helping our exporters access the world's sixth-largest economy, he said in a tweet.

CEPA, a comprehensive path-breaking trade agreement between India and the UAE, was signed during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan on February 18. The agreement was signed and exchanged by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.

The CEPA is likely to boost trade between India and the UAE from USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion in the next five years, India's Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir had said. The CEPA was finalised and signed in a record time of just 88 days, according to the Khaleej Times newspaper.

In February, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in an exclusive statement to UAE's official Emirates News Agency WAM, said that the signing of the UAE-India CEPA "is a milestone event in our bilateral relations" and will open new opportunities in both trade in goods and services, and will lead to enhanced investments". The UAE is India's third-largest trading partner and accounts for approximately 40 per cent of its trade with the Arab world, the WAM report said.

In September last year, India and the UAE formally launched negotiations for the trade agreement. The pact covers areas including goods, services, rules of origin, customs procedures, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and e-commerce.

Under such agreements, two trading partners reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they also liberalise norms to enhance trade in services and boost investments.

Bilateral trade between India and the UAE stood at USD 43.3 billion in 2020-21. Exports were worth USD 16.7 billion and imports aggregated at USD 26.7 billion in 2020-21. The two-way commerce stood at USD 59.11 billion in 2019-20. The UAE is a gateway to Africa and other parts of the world.