Local Press: UAE-India ties go beyond trade and tariffs

• Published date: 19 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

A UAE newspaper has said that the future of economic relations between the UAE and India is all set to go beyond the easing of trade restrictions and tariff barriers.

"The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries that went into implementation from the beginning of this month is a step in that direction," said Gulf News in an editorial on Thursday.

The paper continued, "Clearly, trade is an important component of this comprehensive agreement as India is the second-largest trading partner of the UAE in 2021, accounting for 9 percent of the total volume of the UAE's trade with the world, and 13 percent of the UAE's non-oil exports.

"While the non-oil foreign trade between the two countries in 2021 reached AED165 billion, a growth of 66 percent compared to 2020, the CEPA aspires to take bilateral trade to over AED425 billion within next five years.

"The agreement will clearly enhance mutual market access for both the countries giving bilateral trade and commerce a big boost. While sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather goods, pharma and software exports have already started reaping the benefits of CEPA, both countries have begun exploring opportunities in priority sectors such as industrial production, civil aviation, financial services, information technology, food security, transport and...