A UAE delegation will pay a visit to India from May 12-15 to showcase the potential of the agreements signed with India, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday expressed hope that India and UAE will achieve USD 250 billion in bilateral trade in goods and services.
“We are not in the game for a 100-billion-dollar trade in 2030. We are in the game for maybe 100 billion dollars each way in the next 6-7 years. We are in the game for at least 250 billion dollars’ bilateral trade in goods and services,” Piyush Goyal said at a press conference here.
“We have opened up services in a big way. The growing role of services in both economies will give a big thrust to our bilateral engagements in the years to come,” he added.
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Goyal had earlier announced the unveiling of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India-UAE CEPA was signed on February 18 in New Delhi during the India-UAE Virtual Summit.
He termed the agreement as the ‘defining strategic partnership of the 21st century’.
The minister said that the agreement sets the tone for the new direction, a paradigm shift in the India-UAE relationship.
“A journey that started with an interim agreement covering maybe 100-200 lines culminated in a comprehensive economic partnership with many firsts to its credit. The time taken for it was only 88 days,” he said.
UAE Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi underlined the importance of CEPA.
Thanking, UAE Trade Minister, Goyal said no issue had been left pending by the UAE leadership concerning the agreement.
“There was never an issue which was kept pending, resolving them on a real-time basis, that’s the leadership Dr Thani demonstrated, which in a way we are celebrating today. We have released that text yesterday. It has all been timed beautifully by our leaders and by our teams. The entire text is in the public domain,” he said.
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Goyal added that the CEPA agreement between India and UAE will become the template for several more agreements.
“It’s one of the most outstanding agreements and I promise you, it will become the template for several more which UAE may do, that India may do, that other third countries may do. This will be emulated,” Goyal said.
Largest CEPA
Underlining the importance of trade ties with India, Al Zeyoudi said the India-UAE CEPA is the largest agreement that the middle eastern country will sign.
“I don’t see any agreement bigger than the one with India. India-UAE CEPA is the largest agreement of CEPA that we are going to sign,” said UAE Trade Minister during a press conference in Dubai.
“This is based on a scientific and economic model. The highest and greatest impact of any CEPA that we are going to sign is coming from the Indian CEPA,” he added.
Al Zeyoudi announced that a UAE delegation will pay a visit to India from May 12-15 to showcase the potential of the agreements signed with India.
Start-up hub
Goyal said India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and the target is to acquire the number one position.
“The outstanding success stories of over 92 Unicorns is something that makes every Indian proud of their work. Today we are the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world but our aspiration is to be the world’s number one startup destination,” Goyal said while addressing UAE-India Start-up Forum 2022 in Abu Dhabi.
“India offers one of the best ecosystems for startups with a special ‘jugalbandi’ or blends between investors and entrepreneurs to get a balanced outcome and achieve a win-win solution for all. I have seen tremendous response from the Dubai Expo where our startups have got the opportunity to raise finances, sign MoUs and get angel investments. All these aspects will help strengthen India’s strong bond of friendship with the UAE,” Goyal said.
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