India-UAE bilateral trade touches new heights in FY23 due to CEPA

During the implementation period of the CEPA, which ran from May 2022 to March 2023, bilateral trade between India and the UAE increased from $67.5 billion (May 2021 to March 2022) to $76.9 billion (May 2022 to March 2023), representing an annual increase of 14 per cent. The agreement has also resulted in a multi-year high in Indian exports to the UAE, which increased from $28 billion to $31.3 billion during the April-March period, a YoY growth of 11.8 per cent in percentage terms, ministry of commerce and industry said in a press release.

During the same period, India's global exports grew at a rate of 5.3 per cent, but excluding the UAE, global exports grew at 4.8 per cent. During the CEPA implementation period, India's exports to the UAE grew by 8.5 per cent, from $26.2 billion (May 2021 to March 2022) to $28.5 billion (May 2022 to March 2023). Meanwhile, India's imports from the UAE also grew significantly, reaching $53.2 billion, representing an annual increase of 18.8 per cent during April 2022 to March 2023. Non-oil imports during the same period grew by 4.1 per cent.

Under the India-UAE CEPA in the goods domain, the UAE eliminated duties on 97.4 per cent of its tariff lines, which correspond to 99 per cent of imports from India. India, on the other hand, obtained immediate duty elimination on over 80 per cent of its tariff lines, corresponding to 90 per cent of India's exports in value terms. The tariff lines affected by the CEPA are largely in the labour-intensive industries, such as cotton, textiles, clothing, leather, footwear, and others.

"We are hoping that we would be able to reach $50 billion exports by 2026-27," Indian media reports quoted commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal as saying.

CEPA between India and the UAE was signed on February 18, 2022, and became effective on May 1, 2022. May 1, 2023, marks the first anniversary of India-UAE CEPA implementation.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)