Comprehensive and clear text of CEPA will result in greater utilization from both sides: FIEO

Ludhiana, March 27, 2022: Complimenting on the text of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Dr A Sakthivel, President, FIEO said that the elaborate chapter-wise classification of various subject such as Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Rules of Origin, Minimum requirements, SPS, TBT, Customs Procedure and Trade Facilitation, Trade Remedies, Digital Trade etc will be help in easy adaptation by the industry and will also eliminate interpretation issues to a large extent. This will lead to far better utilization of CEPA from India as well as UAE.
 
The inclusion of a few government agencies for issuance of the Certificate of Origin will help the trade and streamline the process. Since these certificates will be issued on- line, verification, if required, will be expedited thus helping the trade. Better monitoring of utilization of FTA would also be possible through digital intervention, said FIEO Chief.
 
The CEPA will open vistas of opportunity of trade, both of goods and services, besides investment between India and UAE. UAE is currently India's second-largest export destination next only to the US and our exports growth to UAE has been very encouraging in the past, added President, FIEO. In the first eleven months of the current financial year, our exports to the UAE have already crossed US$ 20 Bn. While exact tariff concessions are not known, a CEPA with UAE will be extremely beneficial to Indian exports particularly for the labour-intensive sectors like agriculture and processed food including meat and marine products, gems & jewellery, apparel & textiles, leather & footwears as well as other sectors like engineering, organic chemicals, plastics, paper & paper products, iron & steel, electrical and electronics, automobile and auto components and pharmaceuticals. Indian companies will gain in services like travel & tourism, logistics, IT & ITES, Health, Education, Audio Visual and construction services.
 
The FTA will result in exponential growth in India's exports to UAE and also will open the market to other GCC countries, said FIEO Chief, as GCC countries also follow the same technical standards as applicable to UAE paving the way for greater market access to Indian goods in GCC market. This may be used as a template for similar agreements with the GCC countries.
 
UAE is also a re-distribution centre and a financial hub. Much of exports to Africa is routed through Dubai. The signing of FTA will encourage setting up of warehousing/distribution centres in the UAE for exports to Africa. Lot of African buyers come to Dubai and place orders from there itself and thus showcasing Indian goods in UAE will be a very good strategy for marketing our products and services in the African continent said Dr Sakthivel. The proposal to set up an “India Mart” in Dubai will further supplement this objective.
 
The CEPA will facilitate investment through sovereign funds of the UAE in various facets of infrastructure as well as in some of the sectors identified under the PLI Scheme. UAE companies will be encouraged to produce in India and cater to both Indian and UAE markets with duty-free access now, said Dr Sakthivel.