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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the comprehensive trade agreement between India and the UAE will help in creating huge job opportunities and boost growth of the domestic economy. The bilateral pact is likely to increase the bilateral trade in goods to over $100 billion and trade in services to over $15 billion within five years. It came into effect from May 1. The agreement opens the door for many sectors, particularly labour-intensive ones such as textiles, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

The ministers launched ‘India-UAE Start-up Bridge’ at the India-UAE Partnership Summit. The India UAE Start Up bridge is part of CEPA to strengthen collaboration to promote startups through exchange of best practices, and strengthened relations between accelerators, incubators, and other such ecosystem stakeholders. The bridge will act as a one-stop platform where information regarding the Indian and UAE startup ecosystem will be easily accessible to entrepreneurs and stakeholders from both countries.

He added that the pact would not only open doors for Indian businesses to the UAE but also to other countries as well as UAE is a transit point for large parts of Africa, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, and the Gulf region. CIS countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Tajikistan. Further, Goyal said Indian pharma products will get immediate access to the UAE market as CEPA has given a pathway for fast-track approval for these products in the UAE.

According to the minister, the framework is expected to add a million jobs in India and provide opportunities to the startup ecosystem in the country and has huge potential for engagement on skill development and education. He noted that there are a large number of startups which have emerged in the last six years, with more than 65,000 registered with the ministry. He added India also has over 100 unicorns with the third largest startup ecosystem in the world.