Trade, import and export for MSMEs: India is looking at concluding a similar trade pact with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during this year itself, Piyush Goyal said.
Trade, import and export for MSMEs: The India-UAE trade agreement, signed on Friday, which will enable duty-free access for around 90 per cent of India’s exports to UAE, will be extremely beneficial for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), traders, startups, and others, said Piyush Goyal in a press conference a day after signing the agreement. Indian MSMEs have a share of around 48 per cent in India’s overall exports.
“Our MSMEs, startups, farmers, traders & all sections of businesses will gain hugely with opening up of new markets. Big opportunities await our large skilled workforce,” Goyal said in a tweet as well on Saturday evening. In terms of the sectoral gains, Goyal said that labour-intensive industries such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods and footwear, and food processing industry would benefit the most out of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
UAE was India’s third-largest trade partner with the bilateral trade worth $43.3 billion as of 2020-21. The exports to UAE stood at $16.7 billion while imports amounted to $26.7 billion during the year. The foreign direct investment (FDI) from UAE in India was $4.2 billion from $339 million in 2020, according to the data by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Asserting that the CEPA is a balanced, fair, comprehensive & equitable partnership agreement, which will give enhanced market access for India in both goods and services, the minister added that the agreement will create at least 10 lakh jobs for Indian citizens, a Commerce Ministry statement on Sunday cited Goyal as saying.
The agreement will come into effect in less than 90 days, by early May. “80 per cent lines of trade will attract zero duty, remaining 20 per cent does not affect our exports much, so this is a win-win agreement,” Goyal said.
India is looking at concluding a similar trade pact with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during this year itself, the minister added. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain with a combined nominal GDP of $1.6 trillion. “We are also confident in our negotiating ability. We have conducted negotiations in a rapid manner with UAE and we believe that a similar agreement on trade would be concluded with the GCC in this year itself,” said Goyal.
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/msme-exim-india-uae-trade-pact-will-be-extremely-beneficial-for-msmes-traders-others-piyush-goyal/2439286/
