At Least 80 Per Cent Of India's Exports To UAE To Be Duty-Free After Bilateral Free Trade Pact: Report

At least 80 per cent of India's exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be duty-free after the free trade pact between the two countries come into force, reports Economic Times.

India and UAE are set to sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) today (18 February).

Under the pact, India would be able to export textiles worth an additional $2 billion in the next two years and treble the plastic exports to the gulf country, people aware of the matter were quoted in the ET report as saying.

The free trade pact is expected to increase the India-UAE bilateral trade from $60 billion at present to $100 billion in the next five years.

Further, the agreement is likely to create 5 lakh jobs in India's gems and jewellery, textiles, engineering products, pharamceuticals, automobiles among others. In UAE, Over 1 lakh jobs will be created in the coming years after the pact comes into force.

It should be noted that the negotiations for the CEPA, India's first such trade deal in the gulf region, were launched in September 2021.