India-UAE trade pact will create one million new jobs: Piyush Goyal

India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal and UAE’s economy minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri yesterday signed India-UAE comprehensive trade agreement following a virtual summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

New Delhi: The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed by India and the United Arab Emirates on Friday will create a minimum of 10 lakh jobs for Indian citizens as 90% of products exported from India to UAE will attract zero duty that will help surpass the bilateral trade target of $100 billion in next five years, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.

Goyal said the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will be extremely beneficial for MSMEs, startups, farmers, traders and all sections of businesses.

“It will create jobs for our youth, open new markets for our startups, make our businesses more competitive and boost our economy,” Goyal told reporters in a press conference held in India’s financial capital Mumbai today.

India-UAE CEPA

Goyal said the landmark agreement, which resulted in the signing of an 880 page document in a record time of 88 days, was a big achievement for both the nations and reflects the strong bond between the countries.

India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal and UAE’s economy minister Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri yesterday signed India-UAE comprehensive trade agreement following a virtual summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Goyal said the trade agreement will help in promoting Indian exports in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, medicines, agricultural products, footwear, leather, sports goods, engineering goods, auto components and plastics.

Under the pact, UAE has offered immediate market access at Zero duty from day one of the entry into force of the agreement, to products accounting for 90% of India’s exports to UAE in value terms.

“Around 90% of products exported from India to UAE will attract zero duty with implementation of the agreement while 80% lines of trade will attract zero duty and remaining 20% does not affect our exports much,” Goyal told reporters.

UAE a gateway to Africa, Middle East

According to officials, the trade agreement between the two countries will not only improve competitiveness of Indian products but will also help Indian exporters to gain excess to other markets as well such as the Middle East, Africa and European markets as UAE serves as a trading hub.

Goyal expressed the confidence that with the signing of the India-UAE CEPA, both countries will be able to surpass the target of increasing the bilateral trade to $100 billion dollars in the next five years.

More jobs for Indians in UAE

Goyal said the trade agreement will open new job opportunities for Indian nationals to work in the UAE, including in the fields of fintech, edtech, green tech, automation and Artificial Intelligence as technology, digital trade and sustainability have a big focus in the partnership.

"For the first time in a Trade agreement, the CEPA provides for automatic registration and marketing authorisation of Indian generic medicines in 90 days, once they are approved in developed countries. This will give big market access to Indian medicines not only in UAE but also in the Middle East and Africa,” said the minister.

Goyal said the CEPA provides for a permanent bilateral safeguard mechanism to deal with sudden surge in imports of any product.

The trade pact also has stringent 'rules of origin' reflecting requirements for substantial processing of up to 40% value addition.

India-UAE food security initiative

Officials said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India’s nodal body for promotion of export of processed food – APEDA and UAE’s DP World and Al Dahra regarding a Food Security Corridor Initiative has already been prepared.

Under the initiative, India will be able to play a crucial role in UAE’s food security.