A year after signing India-UAE CEPA Agreement, bilateral trade grew by 27.5% with exports to the region growing by 19.32%

Dubai: The historical India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed on February 18, 2022 during the Virtual Summit in the presence of Indian prime Minister Narendra Modi and  His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.

Marking a successful year of CEPA signing, a Special Business Event was organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in association with the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, Consulate General of India, Dubai and Dubai Chambers on February 17, 2023 at Dubai.  The event was participated in by more than 200 leading businesses from India and the UAE.

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Addressing the gathering at the special business event, Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade spoke about the immense opportunities and advantages offered by CEPA.  Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir in his remarks mentioned that the business from both India and UAE have already started leveraging upon the duty waivers and enhanced market access offered under the CEPA. 

The historical India-UAE CEPA is the first bilateral trade accord concluded by the UAE and India’s first bilateral trade agreement in the MENA region. India-UAE CEPA is a wide-ranging agreement, covering all aspects of India’s economic engagement with the UAE including Trade, Investments, Healthcare, Digital Trade Government Procurement, IPR etc. CEPA has unleashed new opportunities in bilateral trade and it is expected to increase the bilateral trade in goods to USD 100 bn within five years and trade in services to USD 15 bn.

The impressive overall growth in bilateral trade is a true reflection of the early gains accruing from the agreement. During the first eight months from April-November 2022 of the current financial year, the bilateral trade between our two countries has grown to USD 57.8 bn from USD 45.3 bn same period last year, recording an impressive growth of 27.5 % in percentage terms and a notable increase of USD 12.5 bn in value terms. During the same period, India’s exports to the UAE have seen a remarkable growth of 19.32%, reaching US $ 20.8 bn from US $ 17.45 bn, an increase of USD 3.35 bn in value terms. Besides, several other significant partnerships have been launched since May 2022 related to energy, food security, education and healthcare.

Talking to IANS, Chandu Siroya, Vice Chairman of Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group and owner of Siroya Jewellers said that, after CEPA it is very easy for us to source jewellery from India and sell to other countries, for example, if a customer was coming from any other country and they wanted to go to India they could not carry gold to India so they had to make the orders. From the Indian perspective, as India is a huge country and the jewellery markets are all expanded in different states, now we can easily bring them in the gold souq and exhibit them to international clients. We at Siroya Jewellers completed 100 shipments in the last 9 months and we have imported about 85.6 million US dollar worth of jewellery, it’s 2028 kilos after the CEPA agreement. I was the first who received the first shipment under the CEPA agreement from India to UAE. – He added.

Indian Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir said that this CEPA is helping to business groups in an exceptional manner. Business houses are the pillars of the success of the CEPA agreement. We have seen growth in bilateral trade and exports. New industries and approaching the UAE market after CEPA as tariff lines coverage is up to 95%, which is an attraction for all. As UAE is the gate of the world, more investments are expected from both sides.

After CEPA many Indian big business giants are expanding their operations in UAE and TATA group is one of them. Talking to IANS, Ankur Gupta (Head of corporate affairs & Growth, MENA region), expressed his views and informed that, I think CEPA has been extremely beneficial, I think over the last 5-6 years, in any case, the relationship between India and UAE had certainly enhanced a cross commercial business trade diplomatic and strategic ties as well. This is also reflected in the way the TATA group has been present in the UN and grown up. In 2013 -14 we had 13 TATA companies, who were operating in the UAE, today we have 26 other companies and divisions that operate here. Today we have of upwards 5000 employees here which is a large base across our infrastructure hospitality retail aviation businesses. Post CEPA TATA group enhanced its jewellery business, automotive, steel business and fashion brands. We are now looking at new areas like FMCG, aviation and insurance business here. In the jewellery business before CEPA we had 2 stores, now we have 6 stores and many others are in pipeline. The CEPA entered into force on the 1st of May 2022.   The agreement has been operating smoothly for over 10 months now. The businesses from both nations have already started leveraging upon the tremendous potential offered under the CEPA.