India, UAE target $100 billion trade: Piyush Goyal

India, UAE target $100 billion trade: Piyush Goyal

India and the UAE aim to expand their bilateral trade to USD 100 billion, according to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Addressing the ‘UAE India Business Summit’ at the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, he highlighted the multifaceted nature of the India-UAE partnership, ranging for space exploration, security, education, and climate action.

Mr Goyal said the two countries are looking for fresh proposals from industry and businesses to further enhance partnership. He noted that bilateral trade has increased substantially under the India UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The minister also spoke about the potential of the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor initiative.

Mr Goyal, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also launched on the occasion the UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC) website.

A report on the CII India-UAE Start-Up Initiative titled “Unlocking Opportunities: India- UAE Start-Up Ecosystem Convergence” was also launched during the summit.

The India-UAE Business Summit also facilitated a focused discussion session for further cooperation in areas such as trade finance, investment facilitation, and sectoral collaboration.

The Indian and the UAE delegations consisted of representatives from both the government and the industry. The session included a presentation on the Bharat Mart which is a proposed warehousing facility by India in the UAE to support Indian exporters.

Notably, India-UAE trade rose to USD 85 billion in 2022, making the UAE India’s third-largest trading partner for the year 2022-23 and India’s second-largest export destination. A Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions was signed between the two countries in July 2023.