India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement comes into force

The Commerce Secretary said it was a momentous occasion. Talking about the potential for strategic partnership between India and the UAE, he said that the agreement is a trendsetter because of the short time in which it was negotiated.

CEPA is expected to increase the total value of bilateral trade in goods to over USD 100 billion and trade in services to over USD 15 billion within five years, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

"Overall, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97 percent of its tariff lines, which account for 99 percent of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms, particularly from labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural and wood products, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and automobiles," the Ministry said.

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"As regards trade in services, Indian service providers will have enhanced access to around 111 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors," the statement added.

The Commerce Secretary said that even though the CEPA had envisioned a trade target of USD 100 billion, given India's market size and the access that the UAE would give the former, more could be achieved. He said that for India, UAE would be a gateway to the world.

On the need for Indian products in the international market to be competitive, the Commerce Secretary said that there was a need to build and augment our capacities. He said the government is working on decreasing the cost of logistics so that the products from hinterland can also be competitive.

He said India was negotiating trade agreements at a fast pace with complementary economies and talks were also ongoing with Canada, EU and the United Kingdom.

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