India-UAE aim to double non-oil trade to $100 bn by 2030: Piyush Goyal

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to increase non-petroleum trade from $48 billion to $100 billion by 2030, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

“We have mutually agreed that let us now become more ambitious and instead of our earlier target of an overall $100 billion bilateral trade by 2030…we shall now look at non-petroleum bilateral trade of $100 billion by 2030, which means doubling our non-petroleum trade from $48 billion today to $100 billion in the next seven years,” Goyal told reporters after the first joint committee meeting of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The joint committee, comprising officials from both sides, aims to review the terms of the trade agreement. The India-UAE CEPA came into force on May 1, 2022.

UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said initial figures suggest that in the first 12 months of CEPA, bilateral non-oil trade rose 5.8 per cent from a year ago.

In FY23, UAE was India’s third largest crude oil import partner, with a share of over 10 per cent.

“For context, these figures came amid a sharp decline in global trade in Q3 and Q4 of 2022, proving that we have created a real nexus of growth. Even more impressive are the figures from Q1, 2023. In the first three months of the year, total bilateral trade reached $13.2 billion, up 16.3 per cent over the previous quarter,” he said.

Going ahead, various committees and sub-committees and technical councils will be set up for implementing provisions of the trade agreement such as trade in goods, customs facilitation, rules of origin, trade remedies, investment facilitation among others. A new sub-committee for handling matters related to trade in services will be set up to exchange services trade data.

“We have also agreed to set up an India-UAE CEPA Council that will serve as a vehicle for both governments and the export-oriented private sector to facilitate the implementation of CEPA by creating awareness and building partnerships, and organising business events in both countries,” Goyal said, adding that the council will focus on MSMEs, startups, women entrepreneurs.

Rupee-Dirham trade

Goyal also said that central banks on both sides are discussing rupee-dirham trade to reduce transaction cost, which is progressing at a ‘very’ fast pace.

Good outcomes are expected on this soon, he said.

“I am sure that given the high level of engagement on both sides, not only on rupee-dirham trade but also on other digital technologies becoming part of the India UAE framework. I think we have very good things, which will be offered to both nations in the coming months,” he said.

–New sub-committee for handling matters related to trade in services will be set up

–Sub-committee will exchange services trade data