India-UAE CEPA to attract investment in sectors under PLI scheme: FIEO

New Delhi, Mar 28 (KNN) The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and UAE will facilitate investment in some of the sectors identified under the PLI Scheme as well in various aspects of infrastructure through sovereign funds of the UAE, said Dr A Sakthivel, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

He stated that UAE companies will be encouraged to produce in India and cater to both Indian and UAE markets with duty-free access now.

Expressing approval on the text of the India-UAE CEPA, FIEO chief said that the elaborate chapter-wise classification of various subject such as Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Rules of Origin, Minimum requirements, SPS, TBT, Customs Procedure and Trade Facilitation, Trade Remedies, Digital Trade etc will be help in easy adaptation by the industry and will also eliminate interpretation issues to a large extent.

He pressed on the inclusion of a few government agencies for issuance of the Certificate of Origin will help the trade and streamline the process.

“The CEPA will open vistas of opportunity of trade, both of goods and services, besides investment between India and UAE, as UAE is currently India's second-largest export destination next only to the US and our exports growth to UAE has been very encouraging in the past,” he added.

While exact tariff concessions are not known, a CEPA with UAE will be extremely beneficial to Indian exports particularly for the labour-intensive sectors like agriculture and processed food including meat and marine products, gems & jewellery, apparel & textiles, leather & footwears etc.

He said that the FTA will result in exponential growth in India's exports to UAE and also will open the market to other GCC countries, those countries also follow the same technical standards as applicable to UAE paving the way for greater market access to Indian goods in GCC market. (KNN Bureau)