India is negotiating trade agreements at a very rapid pace with complementary economies including the UK, Canada and the European Union.
India is negotiating trade agreements at a very rapid pace with complementary economies including the UK, Canada and the European Union.
The Free Trade Agreement between India and the UAE has come into force from Sunday, under which domestic exporters from various sectors such as textiles, agriculture, dry fruits, gems and jewellery, will get duty-free access to the UAE market.
Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam handed over the certificates of origin to three exporters in the gems and jewelery sector here in a symbolic gesture of implementation of the agreement. These consignments to Dubai will not attract any customs duty under the agreement, officially called the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have issued relevant notifications for operationalization of the agreement from May 1.
“Today, the CEPA between India and UAE is coming into force. Today we are sending the first consignment from India to UAE, which will benefit from this agreement,” Mr. Subrahmanyam said here.
He said that the UAE is India’s second or third largest trading partner and that country is the gateway to the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The trade agreement will help take two-way trade from the current $60 billion to $100 billion in five years.
“$100 billion is just a start… as we move forward, it will go up to $200 billion and then $500 billion in the years to come,” the secretary said, adding that “99% of our exports” are zero duty in the UAE. will go on”.
The gems and jewelery sector contributes a major part of India’s exports to the UAE and is expected to benefit significantly from the tariff concessions received for Indian products under this agreement.
Overall, India would benefit from preferential market access by the UAE on more than 97% of its tariff lines (or goods), which account for 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in terms of value – especially labour-intensive ones such as textiles. from regions. , leather, footwear, sporting goods, plastics, furniture and engineering products.
Underlining the need for Indian products to be competitive in the international market, the Secretary said that there is a need to build and enhance domestic capabilities. He also pointed out that India is negotiating trade agreements at a very fast pace with complementary economies including the UK, Canada and the European Union. Shri Subrahmanyam said that the export of goods and services accounts for about 22-23% of India’s GDP.
“Our vision is that we should take India to a point where exports are (from) 25-30% of our GDP,” he said. He emphasized that the Department of Commerce is also reinventing itself to face the challenges of tomorrow with a focus on being future ready and promoting business. “We will restructure the department. You will change in the next few months. We will set up a huge trade promotion wing,” the secretary said.
On trade agreements, he said there are two-way deals and both sides should feel that they have got something.
The Secretary said that the UK, Canada and the European Union are all developed economies and they have great potential for the “we” making goods such as apparel, whole clothing, leather, chemicals, gems and jewellery.
In addition, he said that the ministry is analyzing a lot of trade agreements and trying to fix them.
“We are planning to simplify the agreements (with UAE for industry) in a nutshell and put them in easy bundles so that everyone knows where I am benefiting through this FTA. We will start from the end of May. Will do that first,” he added.