Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter |
UAE top representatives and Indian business bodies met with exporters in Chennai on Wednesday with a motive to boost trade between the Gulf and India’s south.
The meeting with exporters was held by the UAE-India CEPA Council in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry and the UAE Embassy in the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India.
Tamil Nadu is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population located on the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Tamil Nadu boasts an economy with gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹23.65 lakh crore (US$300 billion), making it the second-largest economy among the 28 states of India.
It is India’s second-largest city with exporter of software after Karnataka that is famous for its automobile and engineering industries.
Manufacturing contributes 33 percent and agriculture 13 percent to its state gross domestic product.
The commercial relations between the Arab Emirates and India have reached historic highs since the implementation of the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in May 2022.
The economic partnership between Gulf and India under CEPA is expected to increase the total value of bi-lateral trade up to $100 billion in non-petroleum products and $15 billion trade in services by 2030.
According to the UAE Embassy, “featuring over 20 participants from diverse sectors such as logistics, auto-motives, agriculture and healthcare, the round table provided a valuable platform for business owners to discuss opportunities to benefit from the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, and the bilateral strategic partnership more broadly.”
“Among the various economic, trade and investment matters discussed at the roundtable, Col. Shubhransh Srivastav, vice president, corporate affairs, DP World, provided participants with an overview of the recently launched Bharat Mart, which is set to boost Indian SME exports to the UAE and the greater MENA region,” notified by the UAE Embassy.
'Bharat Mart', is a warehousing facility allows Indian micro, small and medium enterprises to trade in Dubai offers a unified platform for Indian exporters to showcase a variety of products under one roof much like Chinese 'Dragon mart.
It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the UAE earlier this month, and is expected to become operational by 2025.
“The CEPA was offering expansion due to preferential market access”, Ahmed Aljneibi, director of the UAE-India CEPA Council, told the Chennai audience.
“The significant benefits afforded by the CEPA, including preferential market access and the facilitation of MSME expansion, underscore its role in catalyzing cooperation and strengthening cultural, political and economic ties between our nations,” Aljneibi said.
“We look forward to building upon this momentum and continuing to drive impactful initiatives that will further deepen the UAE-India economic partnership.”
