Both countries working to further improve Ease of Doing Business
Indian exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased by 8.5% on the year to US$28.5 billion (May 22 – March 23) following the implementation of India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). It was US$26.2 billion (May 21 – March 22).
This was shared by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal on 1 May 2023 as he congratulated the people of India and the UAE on the milestone and talked about CEPA’s role as a growth engine for India-UAE bilateral trade over the past 11 months.
CEPA is a full and deep Agreement signed on 18 Feb 2022 and entered into force from 1 May 2022.
Comparatively, Indian global exports grew by 5.3% on the year, and if excluded the UAE shipments, the growth was 4.8%.
During the same period, India’s global exports, excluding the UAE, grew at 3.1%.
India’s Imports from the UAE have grown to US$53.2 billion (an annual increase of 18.8%) during Apr 22 to Mar 23. Non-oil imports during the same period grew by 4.1%.
During the past one year, CEPA has made a significant impact on India’s bilateral trade with the UAE and particularly India’s exports to the UAE (Oil and Non-Oil).
During the CEPA Implementation period (from May 22 to Mar 23), bilateral trade increased 14% to US$76.9 billion (May 22-Mar 2023) from US$67.5 billion (May 21-Mar 2022).
The India-UAE bilateral trade touched historic highs during FY 2022-23, increasing by 16% to US$84.5 billion (Apr 22-Mar 2023) from US$72.9 billion (Apr 21-Mar 2022).
Some of the key sectors, including labour-intensive sectors, that have witnessed significant export growth on account of the CEPA include: Mineral Fuels; Electrical Machinery (particularly telephone equipment); Gems & Jewellery; Automobiles (Transport vehicles segment); Essential Oils/Perfumes/Cosmetics (Beauty/Skin care products); Other Machinery; Cereals (Rice); Coffee/Tea/Spices; Other Agri Products; and Chemical Products.
Utilization of the India-UAE CEPA has been increasing steadily on a month-on-month basis. Number of Preferential Certificates of Origin (COOs) issued under the CEPA increased to 8,440 in March 2023 from 415 in May 2022. Over 54,000 COOs were issued under the CEPA during the 11-month (May 22 – March 23) period.
Under the India-UAE CEPA in the Goods Domain, the UAE eliminated duties on 97.4% of its tariff lines corresponding to 99% of imports from India.
India has obtained immediate duty elimination on over 80% of its tariff lines corresponding to 90% of India’s exports in value terms. Most of these tariff lines correspond to the labour-intensive industries/sectors such as oil seeds & oils, beverages, cotton, fish & fish products, textiles, clothing, gems and jewellery, leather, footwear, pharmaceuticals and many engineering products.
In the Services Domain, broader and deeper commitments have been taken across all the sectors and modes of supply. Out of the 160 services subsectors, India has offered 100 sub-sectors to the UAE and the UAE has offered 111 sub-sectors to India.
Given the significant increase in bilateral trade, particularly in exports of Indian goods and services, CEPA would have had a concomitant positive impact on other key macroeconomic variables such as GDP and Employment, said Barthwal.
He assured that both sides are continuing to work together to further improve Ease of Doing Business between the two countries. fiinews.com
