India, UAE aim to double non-oil trade to $100 billion

India and the UAE Monday more than doubled their non-petroleum trade target to $100 billion by 2030, enthused by the growth in bilateral trade in the first 12 months of inking the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

India is hopeful of an early outcome of talks on the rupee-dirham trade with the UAE, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said.

The upwardly revised trade target was announced by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi after the first meeting of the joint committee of India-UAE CEPA, which was implemented on May 1 last year. The earlier target was set at $48 billion.


In the first 12 months of India-UAE CEPA, bilateral non-oil trade rose 5.8% on-year to $50.5 billion. It was $13.2 billion in the first three months of the year, 16.3% higher than previous quarter.

“There can be little question that our deal is having the desired impact,” said Al Zeyoudi, adding that these figures came amid a sharp decline in global trade in the third and fourth quarters in 2022, proving that “we have created a real nexus of growth”.

The re-exports from India rose 24.5% in the first quarter.

The two countries will set up a sub-committee for services trade and share data besides an IndiaUAE CEPA council to facilitate the pact’s implementation.

RUPEE-DIRHAM TRADE
Goyal expressed hope about an early outcome on the rupee-dirham trade with the UAE.

“Both countries have made significant progress on this issue. The central banks are in touch and our finance ministry is very supportive,” Goyal said.

He said other digital technologies, which are developing, will become a part of the UAE-India framework. “In the coming months, we will await for final outcomes very soon,” he said.