Abu Dhabi, Sep 18 (PTI) India and the UAE have set a target to double bilateral trade in non-oil and non-precious metal to USD 100 billion over the next 3-4 years, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
Currently, the bilateral trade in non-oil and non-precious metals stands at about USD 50-55 billion.
The minister also said both sides have decided to work on modalities to invest in regions, such as Africa and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), in various sectors like infrastructure, by leveraging the UAE’s investment strength and India’s talent pool.
“On this, today, we did conceptual discussions. What will be the modalities, who all can be involved from public and private sectors, which countries we need to focus…both sides will develop this,” Goyal said.
There is a huge demand for housing in Australia and New Zealand.
These issues were discussed during the 13th meeting of the India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments here.
It was co-chaired by visiting Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, MD of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
“We have set a new target to double bilateral trade in non-oil and non-precious metals to USD 100 billion in the next 3-4 years,” Goyal told reporters here.
He said both sides also explored new frontiers for investment and collaboration, especially in the maritime, defence, aerospace, and space sectors to drive mutual growth.
He added that trade in local currencies is also on the rise.
The trade in local currencies cuts transactions cost for traders and promotes ease of operations.
Goyal is leading a 70-member business delegation here.
He said India and the UAE have identified sectors such as home decor, textiles, fishery, leather and leather products, food processing and pharma to boost trade.
“When we talk of focus sectors, obviously, it is for the UAE market, but all of the Gulf nations source heavily from the UAE; a lot of African nations find it easy to source from the UAE because of good air connectivity and easier logistics,” he said.
Huge potential is there for India to increase exports to these regions, besides the Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan.
UAE also wants to invest in the stock market in India, and talks are on for that, he said, adding that now about 42 lakh Indians are working here, which was 22 lakh, 10 years back.
The commerce minister said that Bharat Mart, a global B2B and B2C marketplace in Dubai, will be ready in about 1.6 to 2 years.
It is being developed with DP World in an area of 20,000-25,000 sq ft.
When asked about the investment plans of ADIA, he said India is central to their investment plans.
“ADIA has significant investments in India today. They want India to offer more projects to them in sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure and services,” the minister said, adding he will be meeting more sovereign wealth funds here.
On pharma, he said a delegation is here for the trade talks, and the UAE has agreed to resolve their issues.
Further, Goyal said that after IIT and IIM, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) campus will soon start in Dubai, as all the required approvals have been granted.
On the issue of posting an income tax officer in the UAE, Goyal said: “I raised this in the last HLTFI. Very quickly, within a short time, the UAE accepted it, and now an Income Tax officer lives in our embassy, helping to speed up the exchange of financial information.
“So, the relationship between the two countries is growing in various ways.” He added that the UAE has also shown interest in investing in the stock market on a large scale, for which “we are in discussions”.
On UPl in the UAE, the minister said work is moving fast on this, and soon remittances will start.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
