UAE-India trade hits $49.729b
January 27, 2017 - President Pranab Mukherjee has said that well-balanced bilateral trade turnover between India and United Arab Emirates has been impressive as he invited UAE’s business houses to participate in India’s flagship programmes like Make in India, Digital India and Smart Cities.
“The UAE is amongst India’s largest trade partners. The bilateral trade during 2015-16 was $49.729 billion. We have agreed to increase the bilateral trade by 60 per cent by 2020,” the President said while welcoming the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday.
The President said this state visit “is a reflection of the warm relations and intensifying co-operation between India and the UAE”.
“With our shared vision, we are committed to take our partnership to the highest strategic level as we realise its true potential.
This State visit provides an opportunity to further enhance co-operation between India and UAE,” Mukherjee observed.
Subsequently, in his banquet speech, he said with India’s plans for rapid growth in the infrastructure sector, liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) and it being one of the fast growing economies in the world, India holds immense possibilities for investments.
Mukherjee also reiterated the urgent need for responsible nations to continue collective efforts against the forces of extremism, terrorism and intolerance “which attempt to weaken the very fabric of our societies. He said it is in the interests of both countries to work for peace and stability in both west and south Asia.
“It is a matter of satisfaction that even as the two countries strengthen our ongoing engagement and co-operation, our governments are currently exploring new avenues to expand it.
Joint defence production, space and renewable energy have been identified as priorities,” he said.
Both countries have reviewed the progress in realising the $75 billion target for UAE investments in India’s plans for rapid expansion of next generation infrastructure development.
In order to develop a medium and long term strategy for increasing bilateral trade by 60 per cent over the next five years, as agreed during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UAE in August 2015, the two sides decided to conduct required studies to come up with action plans by June 2017.
These would focus on identification of potential sectors and the impeding tariff and non-tariff barriers, exploring opportunities in services sector and formulating a sector-specific strategy to boost two way trade and investments.
In this context, they expressed satisfaction at the signing of an MoU between the Indian Ministry of Commerce and the UAE Ministry of Economy on trade remedial measures to promote cooperation in areas of anti-dumping during the visit.
The UAE and India underlined the importance of the MoU on the Indian Rupee and UAE Dirham Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement between Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates concluded during the Crown Prince’s previous visit in February 2016, as a useful mechanism for trade promotion.
It was also noted that the MoUs signed by the Confederation of Indian Industry with the Registration Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market at the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit in November 2016, and another on Mutual Cooperation and Technical Assistance between SEBI and Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority, would facilitate joint collaboration on initiatives and efforts to further encourage business developments.
The UAE has reaffirmed its interest in investing in infrastructure development in India, especially in priority areas such as energy, power generation and transmission, defence production, industrial corridors and parks, railways, roads, ports, shipping and logistics.
Source: http://iccia.com/?q=mediacenter/news/17004/details/