Staff Reporter
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Economy Minister of United Arab Emirates Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri inaugurated India-UAE Economic Partnership Summit in Mumbai on Friday. Both leaders also launched India-UAE start-up bridge to boost the economy. This summit was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Mr. Piyush Goyal said, India and UAE have huge potential to work together and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will significantly open the doors to a plethora of markets across the globe and help in building a future ready, more robust and resilient bilateral partnership.
The Minister said, the India-UAE partnership is best defined by its tagline ‘Openness, Opportunity and Growth’ and asserted that the trade between the two countries is expected to grow to at least 100 billion dollars in the near future. Now, entrepreneurs and stakeholders from both countries will have access to know about the start-up ecosystem. It will help in capacity building of incubators, incubation opportunities for start-up, he said.
About the pharma sector, the Commerce and Industry Minister said that CEPA has given a pathway for Indian Pharma products to fast-track approval in the UAE. It is the first time any nation in the world has given India such a benefit, he added.
UAE Economy Minister Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri said that India and UAE will be the defining trade partnership of the future. UAE is second largest exporter to India. CEPA gives good opportunities for Indian companies to expand their reach in UAE.
The India-UAE CEPA shared objective is to promote new trade, investment and innovation dynamic in diverse sectors, including economy, energy, climate action, emerging technologies, skills and education, food security, health care and defence and security.