Minister of Economy, Abdullah bin Touq Al-Marri, participated in the Global Business Summit in India, which was held in New Delhi on February 17 and 18. In his speech at the summit, Bin Touq stressed the strength and durability of the historical relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India, which are witnessing continuous growth in various fields and economic and trade sectors.
He added, "This summit coincides with the one-year anniversary of the comprehensive economic agreement between the UAE and India, which was signed in February 2022, and entered into force in May 2022, as the agreement drew a new road map that contributes to supporting sustainable economic growth for the two friendly countries."
He reviewed the advantages and opportunities granted by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to the markets of the two countries, including the cancellation of customs tariffs on more than 80% of UAE and Indian goods, and there is a plan to cancel all customs tariffs between the two countries, which amount to 10,000 within 10 years, in a way that enhances growth and increase. Joint trade and investment exchange. The agreement also provides for enhancing service providers’ access to markets across 11 main sectors and more than 100 sub-sectors, including digital trade and intellectual property rights. The agreement also provided for the establishment of a joint council to promote investments and facilitate trade procedures between the two countries. Bin Touq said: “The agreement played a prominent and major role in promoting non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and India during the year 2022, which amounted to about 180 billion dirhams ($49 billion), achieving an increase of 10% compared to 2021, especially since the UAE is the third India's largest global trading partner.
He added, "We look forward with our partners in the Indian government to enhance cooperation in new areas, most notably food security, health care, renewable energy, communications, logistics, transportation, waste management and space technology."
Bin Touq reviewed the economic policies and measures taken by the country to enhance its investment climate, continue economic openness to the world, establish international trade partnerships, support the competitiveness of the economic legislative environment, and enhance the country's attractiveness to foreign direct investment.
He stressed that «the year 2022 witnessed unprecedented economic growth rates for the UAE, as the gross domestic product at constant prices recorded a growth of 8.5% during the first half of 2022, and the UAE Central Bank raised its expectations for real domestic product to reach 7.6% by the end of 2022, and 3. 9% in 2023, in addition to the UAE's non-oil foreign trade reaching more than 2.2 trillion dirhams for the first time in its history in 2022, a growth rate of 17% compared to 2021, and the country attracted foreign direct investments worth $20.7 billion in 2021. , with a growth rate of 4% over the year 2020, so that the UAE comes first in West Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
It is expected that foreign direct investment inflows to the country will reach $22 billion in 2022, which represents 4.3% of the gross domestic product of the national economy.
Bin Touq said, "The UAE is keen to increase its investments in India during the next stage in various sectors of common interest, especially since the UAE's sovereign wealth funds have pumped investments estimated at $10 billion in the fields of renewable energy, communications, road infrastructure, real estate, and emerging companies."
In addition, Indian investments are witnessing a continuous increase in the country, as 11,000 new Indian companies were registered in 2022, bringing the total number of Indian companies in the UAE to more than 83,000 companies