India and the UAE have set a target of doubling non-oil bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030 from $48 billion at present, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

Goyal and the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, took the decision to revise the target from the earlier goal of an overall bilateral trade of $100 billion by 2030 at the first meeting of the Joint Committee of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on Monday.

“Next year we will probably be in a position to raise the bilateral trade target further,” Goyal said, adding that the smooth implementation of the CEPA, which was launched on May 1 last year, was helping in pushing trade.

Rupee-Dirham trade

On the proposed rupee-dirham trade, Goyal pointed out that discussions were progressing at a fast pace. “The RBI and the Central Bank of the UAE have been in active dialogue. The Finance Ministry is also supportive of the issue,” he said.

When the top leadership of both countries was outcome oriented, one could expect good outcomes soon, he added

Bilateral trade

The UAE Minister pointed out that in the first 12 months of the CEPA, bilateral non-oil trade reached $50.5 billion, which was 5.8 per cent higher than the corresponding period a year earlier.

“Even more impressive are the figures from Q1, 2023.  In the first three months of the year, total bilateral trade reached $13.2 billion, a 16.3 per cent increase on the previous quarter,” he said.

The CEPA was benefitting Indian exports from sectors such as textiles, agriculture products, footwear, automobiles,gems and jewellery, while UAE exporters were increasing shipments of iron and steel, aluminium, and polymers, the Minister pointed out.

While trade in petroleum products was rising fast, and hence the new bilateral trade target excluded the sector, Goyal said that businesses had been asked to do more trade in the petroleum sector. 

The UAE is the principal supplier of petroleum products to India and is also a large consumer of refined petroleum products. 

“Indian refiners have spare capacities and make high-quality products. I requested the UAE to encourage their companies to look at sourcing refined products more from India,” the Indian Minister added.

Also read: India’s exports to the UAE could increase to $50 billion in 2026-27

Goyal said that the country will soon see the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s (ADIA) set up in the GIFT city as most of the issues have been resolved.

It will accelerate inward investments into India, and the investors from the UAE are looking to invest in sectors such as energy, emerging technologies, skills and education, food, healthcare, defence, and start-ups, he said.

To set up committees

The two sides agreed to set up various committees and technical councils to implement provisions of the CECA in areas such as trade in goods, customs facilitation, rules of origin, sanitary, phytosanitary, and technical barriers to trade issues, trade remedies, investment facilitation, and economic co-operation.

A new sub-committee for handling matters related to trade in services would also be set up. Services trade data will now be exchanged on a quarterly basis.

Related Topics