India-UAE CEPA started new chapter in bilateral trade: UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade

New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade has said that the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) agreement signed in 2022 has benefited the bilateral trade between the two nations.

“CEPA agreement has started a new chapter in India-UAE bilateral trade investments by catalyzing industrial output and increasing capital flows and sparking new joint ventures and innovations,” the UAE minister said here speaking at the ‘India-UAE Business Forum’, organized by industry body FICCI on Saturday.

The UAE-India CEPA came into effect on May 1, 2022.

FICCI, the organizer of the business forum, in a release said that the UAE Minister had stated that in the first 12 months since implementation, the total value of non-oil bilateral trade reached USD 50.5 billion.

Further, the UAE Minister also highlighted the need for more collaboration between the two nations to capture newer markets with potential which include the CIS, Africa and East European countries.

“We are opening our markets, ensuring new engagements and partnerships & alliances to capture newer markets,” he added.

Minister Thani, while speaking on the potential of the services sector, noted that the rise in the middle-class income group, it is not only benefiting trade but also acting as the engine of growth for both nations.

“Together, we have established a powerful nexus of growth that can deliver long-term prosperity. Social, cultural and economic relations between our countries go back a long time. Our markets are of huge strategic importance to each other and together we must keep exploring the possibilities for our partnership,” he said, as per the FICCI release.