The India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) signed on 18th February 2022 completed three successful years on Tuesday which saw bilateral trade nearly doubling from $43.3 billion in FY 2020-21 to $83.7 billion in 2023-24, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said on Tuesday.

During the 9-month period of April-December of the current financial year the bilateral trade has already reached $71.8 billion, the statement said.

At the product level, smartphones have emerged as a major item of export with shipments valued at $2.57 billion bound for the UAE during FY 2023-24.

CEPA is a full and deep agreement which was signed during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It came into effect on 1st May 2022.

CEPA has been successful in realising its potential of diversification of the trade basket as non-oil trade touched $57.8 billion in FY 2023-24 accounting for more than half of the total trade. This is attuned to the target of taking bilateral non-oil trade to $100 billion by 2030.

In terms of utilisation of CEPA, preferential duties are concerned, since coming into force, nearly 2,40,000 certificates of origin have been issued against which a total export of $19.87 billion has been made to the UAE.

In terms of India’s exports, non-oil exports reached $27.4 billion in FY 2023-24 recording an average growth of 25.6 per cent since CEPA came into force, according to official figures.

At the sectoral level, besides refined crude oil products and gems and jewellery products, electrical machinery and equipment, light and medium-high technology goods like boilers, generators and reactors and organic & in-organic chemicals have been major achievers.

Since the signing of the agreement, both governments have strived to address challenges faced by each other’s exporters through regular high-level meetings and technical discussions between the officials.

The Joint Committee, established as an institutional mechanism to take stock of the implementation of CEPA, has already met twice at the level of Joint and Additional Secretary level. The Trade in Goods Committee has also met several times to address issues related to bilateral trade. In the spirit of mutual cooperation and trust, both sides have taken concrete steps to operationalise various other sub-committees as well as to deliberate on issues related to trade in services, rules of origin, customs procedure and trade facilitation.

The inauguration of the Bharat Mart initiative by PM Modi in Dubai will act as a one-stop shop for Indian manufacturers to offer their products to the global markets and will give a fillip to exports.

The India-UAE CEPA has resulted in a new era of economic partnership and diplomacy for both nations by empowering MSMEs, generating employment and creating new business opportunities.

“India and the UAE are committed to enhancing their economic partnership to foster robust trade and opportunities and reach new heights leveraging CEPA,” the statement added.