UAE-India partnership opens doors to investment opportunities for 3.8 billion people, says Al Marri
Non-oil foreign trade between the two countries grew by 24.7% in Q1-2023
Abu Dhabi: The UAE-India partnership is a driver for economic growth that creates trade and investment opportunities for over 3.8 billion people, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy said on Thursday.
Al Marri made the statement on the sidelines of the annual Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference 2023 held in New Delhi.
“The two countries are accelerating efforts, hand in hand, to develop our economies and adopt plans, strategies, and initiatives that support our visions for expansion and investment in the new economy sectors,” he said. “Through this important economic event, we look forward to enhancing bilateral trade with India in the fields of technology, digital payments, innovation, green energy, healthcare, communication, logistics, transport, waste management, and space technology.”
The non-oil foreign trade between the two countries grew by 24.7 per cent in Q1-2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Apart from that, the UAE’s non-oil exports to Indian markets grew by 33 per cent, while trade amounted to about Dh180 billion, up 10 per cent from 2021.
“The two countries’ economies were among the fastest growing in the world in 2022, characterized by a fast pace of economic growth,” said Al Marri. The UAE economy grew by 7.6 per cent last year, and according to the World Bank estimates, the Indian economy’s GDP achieved a yearly growth of 7.7 per cent in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2022-2023. “This indicates the number of economic opportunities that are available in our markets, encouraging the UAE and Indian private sectors to seize this opportunity to further the prospering economic partnership between the two countries,” he said.
UAE keen to support India
Speaking at a session titled ‘Is Minilateralism the Future of Global Trade?’ Al Marri said that the UAE is keen to support the Indian government’s vision to raise the Indian economy’s GDP to $5 trillion by the year 2025, as well as its future expansion plans in the multilateral trading system.
“The CEPA signed between the two countries in February 2022 achieved positive results,” said The Minister of Economy. “The agreement has enabled advantages like an open and non-discriminatory environment for cross-border trade with India, and the abolition of customs tariffs on more than 80 per cent of UAE and Indian goods.”
“It also enhanced the access of service providers to markets across 11 main sectors and more than 100 sub-sectors including digital trade and intellectual property rights, creating job opportunities in many sectors and economic activities.”
He explained that regional and bilateral trade agreements contribute to accelerating the growth of global trade, facilitating access to markets and the integration of companies into global value chains and boosting investment flows.
Al Marri also elaborated on several economic policies and measures adopted by the UAE to enhance the trade, investment, and business environment, enhance economic openness to the world, establish international trade partnerships, support the competitiveness of the economic legislative environment, and enhance the UAE’s attractiveness to FDI.