New Delhi: On 29 August 2025, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal held a key bilateral meeting with H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to strengthen the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The leaders emphasized collaboration amid global challenges to enhance bilateral economic ties anchored in resilience and mutual benefit.
The meeting reviewed CEPA progress and reaffirmed the vision to expand bilateral trade towards a goal of USD 100 billion in non-oil and non-precious metals trade by 2030. Discussions spotlighted cooperation in emerging sectors including renewable energy, digital infrastructure, supply chain resilience, and healthcare. Both sides agreed on the importance of timely trade data sharing and planned to reconvene the CEPA Sub-Committee on Services within two months.
Advancing Trade Facilitation and Investment
Shri Goyal welcomed UAE’s rising investments in India’s infrastructure, logistics, and food processing sectors and appreciated Dr. Thani’s leadership in multilateral trade cooperation. Initiatives such as the Local Currency Settlement System (INR–AED) and Bharat Mart in the UAE were acknowledged as key facilitators of smoother trade. Both ministers hailed the India–UAE partnership as a defining 21st-century alliance rooted in innovation, sustainability, and shared prosperity.
Sector-Specific Engagements
On 30 August 2025, Shri Goyal and Dr. Thani co-chaired stakeholder meetings focusing on pharmaceuticals and food sectors. The pharma meeting addressed evolving geopolitical challenges, with UAE pledging expedited registration and regulatory support, and India welcoming inspections to ensure quality. Traditional medicine and Ayurveda emerged as promising areas of India-UAE collaboration.
In the food sector, APEDA launched the Bharati Scheme to support more than 100 food and agritech startups and signed an MoU with Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to designate India as partner country at Gulf Food 2026, featuring a 1,200 sqm pavilion for Indian companies covering food, marine, tea, coffee, and spices. The UAE acknowledged issues raised regarding retail pricing and mandatory rice testing.
Shared Vision for Economic Growth and Sustainability
In a business interaction, both leaders celebrated CEPA’s accomplishments since its 2022 inception, pledging stronger investment flows and deep cooperation ahead. Shri Goyal highlighted India’s robust 7.8% quarterly GDP growth and set ambitious goals of a USD 5 trillion economy by 2027 and USD 32–35 trillion by 2047. He emphasized reforms in taxation, trade, ease of doing business, and regulatory processes as keys to sustainable growth.
Dr. Thani recognized India’s role as the world’s fourth-largest economy and a tech and agricultural powerhouse, seeing the UAE as a crucial gateway to Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
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Source: PIB
