The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between UAE and India, which is the biggest bilateral trade pact between the two most significant economies, was activated on Saturday, 30 March.
The agreement was initially signed on 18 February between the two nations. The important occasion overlapped with another significant event, in which Secretary, Department of Commerce, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam flagged off the first shipment of goods consisting of jewellery items from India to the UAE under the India-UAE CEPA at an event carried out at the New Customs House here.
Subrahmanyam gave over the “Certificates of Origin” to three exporters who were from the Gems and Jewellery sector. Under the new customs system, the shipment will be attracting “zero customs duty”.
A statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry declared, “The consignment mentioned above, which will now attract zero customs duty under this Agreement, is expected to reach Dubai today, 01 May 2022.”
The India-UAE CEPA is the first-ever major bilateral trade pact that India has been negotiating for a long to kickstart international trade during the post corona period.
While speaking about the occasion, the Commerce Secretary stated that it was a “momentous occasion”. He further noted that India was trying to negotiate trade pacts with “complementary economies” and that the negotiations are presently underway with the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada.
The Commerce Secretary stated that his department was strengthening itself to be ready for the future and meet the challenges of tomorrow with a focus on trade promotion.
All around, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the United Arab Emirates on about 97% of its tariff lines (or goods), which account for 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms-mainly from labour-intensive sectors like textiles, footwear, furniture, sports goods, leather, plastics and engineering products.