In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Foreign Trade Minister, UAE, said the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has had an "excellent impact on trade volumes between India and UAE." The trade between the two nations exceeded $49 billion, up by 10 percent from the previous year, the UAE minister said.

Share Market Live

NSE

"The distinguished thing that there was a huge growth as well, from the Indian exports to the UAE by 26 percent which means there is a huge potential to take the selection forward, ” Al Zeyoudi added.

Zeyoudi mentioned the process of the India-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) trade deal has just kicked off and .the discussion between other technical teams from both sides are happening.

The UAE minister also emphasised that there is enormous potential to take the India-UAE relationship forward, and both countries must explore various investment opportunities to strengthen the bond.

Read Here | With inflation varying, economists say RBI rate hikes haven't affected consumer spending much

Zeyoudi said their ultimate goal is to reach $100 billion for non-oil trade between both nations. According to him, the India-UAE trade will continue to grow more than the previous year, and the CEPA will help drive that growth.

On job creation, Zeyoudi said, “CEPA will not force millionaires and billionaires to move from one place to the other. It is going to open business opportunities to many of them."

Since CEPA has been focusing on highly talented people, on the creation of highly skilled jobs with expectation that is going to create more than 1 million jobs in India and more than 140,000 highly skilled jobs here and in the UAE, he said.

When it comes to Golden visa, Zeyoudi mentioned that the movements of millionaires were associated with other policy changes and laws that we made in the country.

For full interview, watch accompanying video.

Also Read | Inflation in Pakistan may average 33% till June — Moody's economist says IMF bailout insufficient

(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)

First Published:Feb 15, 2023 7:54 PM IST