Comprehensive trade pact with substantial coverage of goods and services
India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have announced the intent to pursue negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with forward-looking and solution-oriented deliberations as well as bilateral engagements.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and GCC Secretary General Dr. Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf agreed to expedite conclusion of the requisite legal and technical requirements for formal resumption of the India-GCC FTA negotiations.
“The FTA is envisaged to be a modern, comprehensive agreement with substantial coverage of goods and services,” the duo told a press conference in New Delhi on 24 Nov 2022.
Both sides emphasized that the FTA will create new jobs, raise living standards, and provide wider social and economic opportunities in India and the GCC countries.
Both sides agreed to significantly expand and diversify the trade basket in line with the enormous potential that exists on account of the complementary business and economic ecosystems of India and the GCC.
It may be noted that the GCC is currently India’s largest trading partner bloc with bilateral trade in FY 2021-22 valued at over US$154 billion with exports valued at approximately US$44 billion and imports of around US$110 billion (non-oil exports of US$33.8 billion and non-oil imports of US$37.2 billion).
Bilateral trade in services between India and the GCC was valued at around US$14 billion in FY 2021-22, with exports valued at US$5.5 billion and imports at US$8.3 billion.
The GCC countries contribute almost 35% of India’s oil imports and 70% of gas imports.
India’s overall crude oil imports from the GCC in 2021-22 were about US$48 billion, while LNG and LPG imports in 2021-22 were about US$21 billion.
Investments from the GCC in India are currently valued at over US$18 billion.
Established in May 1981, GCC is a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. fiinews.com
