India and UAE are looking to expand non-petroleum bilateral trade to over $100 billion by 2030, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry said to media on Monday.

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Addressing a joint press conference after the first meeting of the Joint Committee of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Piyush Goyal said that smooth implementation of the agendas will help both the countries achieve significant milestones in future with a focus on areas like MSMEs, start-ups, women entrepreneurs and the service sector.

Stating that both the sides have discussed several areas to expand mutual collaboration to set new targets, he pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and UAE's Central Bank have been in active dialogue to operationalise Rupee-Dirham trade, as both sides hope to witness developments soon on this front with digital technologies becoming a part of the trade framework.

Clarifying that UAE isn't a channel for Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) or any other group of countries, Goyal stated that as an important trading hub UAE's infrastructure allows it to trade with many nations across continents and urged Indian exporters to leverage the opportunities offered.

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UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi said that while a sharp decline was noted in global trade in Q3 and Q4 of 2022, the India-UAE CEPA led to a growth in Indian exports to the UAE in gems and jewellery, textiles, agriculture, footwear and automobile sectors, and a rise in import of iron and steel, Aluminum and polymers from UAE from India.

With both sides looking to establish a council for businesses at both sides to focus on specific business areas, Zeyoudi said that central banks from both the countries are currently holding discussions for rupee trade, details of which will be announced after a formal document is signed.

Pointing to the UAE's position as India's second largest gold supplier after Switzerland, Goyal said that India has already given concessions for gold import and is operationalising the concession as some issues had to be resolved.

He added that Indian gold jewellery has a huge market in the UAE as part of the mutually beneficial partnership which both sides are looking to expand in due course.

With the Rs. 2,000 currency notes continuing to be legal tender, Goyal assured that the government's decision on the note didn't impact bilateral trade through banking channels in any way.

Explaining that India's pharmaceutical, textiles and furniture sector can be a large supplier to the UAE, Goyal pointed to India's significant capacity in crude refining and ability to efficiently process lower grades of crude oil as he requested the gulf kingdom to look at sourcing refined crude from India.

(Edited by : Sangam Singh)

First Published:Jun 12, 2023 2:43 PM IST