Regionalisation and globalization can complement each other

In the times of an increasingly shrinking and evolving world, regionalization and globalization are complementary to each other. The last 2 years of pandemic have necessitated a robust local and global economy that is synchronized with the latest technological advancements to bounce back and stay resilient in times of crisis.

The ET Global Business Summit 2022 showed ways to strategize businesses and stay ahead of time through the dialogue between Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the UAE and Vinod Mahanta, Senior Editor, Economic Times on the topic 'Leveraging Technology and Cutting-Edge Innovation to Build New Economic Initiatives'.

Dr Zeyoudi elucidated the roadmap for achieving economic prosperity, through a historic bilateral pact, signed between the two countries on February 18, 2022. The business communities of both the countries were fully involved in seeking suggestions during the negotiation and they were supportive of the initiative.


Any Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) today is however inconceivable without the inclusion and development of cutting-edge technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence and digital assets. Zeyoudi not only recognizes the huge potential of these futuristic industries but also confirmed that the UAE is building governance and infrastructure and a next-level regulatory system for running businesses. On being asked about the trend of migration of many Indian crypto and blockchain companies to the UAE, Zeyoudi responded that the country wants to become a market for capturing and tapping the crypto talent and interested entities from India and the world.

Talking of growth, India rebounded well after the pandemic and expected GDP growth of 8-8.5%. The UAE also bounced back last year with a bigger foreign trade and expects GDP to grow above 3.6%. The country now wants to continue the growth trajectory by working and expanding together with like-minded nations like India.

Dr Zeyoudi showed confidence that the pact would mutually benefit the trade and economic growth of both countries in the coming 10 years. He also called India's well-built and regulated start-ups as an added value to the CEPA, which will, in turn, facilitate the start-ups to expand immensely.

When talking about trade, India's largest sector, services, help accelerate growth rapidly. The speaker emphasized that CEPA would majorly impact over 11 service sectors and more than 100 sub-service sectors and open avenues of growth for the businesses, SMEs, and private sectors of both nations.

CEPA that was finalized and signed after negotiation of 88 days brings a plethora of commitments of expansion in various areas as the UAE's Minister of Foreign Trade affirmed. These areas include export and import which according to Dr Zeyoudi would also get a big boost with the deal. Particularly, the export of raw materials from the UAE to India would create new jobs, entrepreneurs, and industries. To achieve this, both countries would leverage the existing governance, infrastructure through higher investments and commitments.

When talking about India-UAE relations, the importance of a large-scale Indian workforce in the UAE can't be overemphasized. Dr Zeyoudi said that CEPA would ensure further job growth by generating 1,40,000 high-skilled jobs in the UAE, and more than a million jobs in the Indian market. Besides this, the service providers in UAE would be provided with the best practices.

Tourism is another major area that promises a lot of enhancement and economic growth for the UAE. The country was the most popular tourist destination for Indians in 2021. The Minister believes the tourism industry to revive completely in 2022 and expected and welcomed more Indian tourists to flock to UAE.

Kyndryl is the presenting partner of the summit. It is co-powered by Capgemini. GfK is the intelligence partner, Samunnati and Paxfaul are associate partners, ET Edge Insights is the knowledge partner of the summit and is brought by ET Edge Unwired.

(Disclaimer: This article has been produced on behalf of TSSL by Mediawire team)