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Union Minister Piyush Goyal has said the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between India and the UAE will not only strengthen the bilateral trade ties but also boost exports and create 10 lakh job opportunities in India. He said CEPA will be extremely beneficial for MSMEs, startups, farmers, traders and all sections of businesses and this agreement will provide enhanced market access for both goods and services and will create jobs for youth, open new markets for startups, make businesses more competitive and boost economy.

Goyal said ‘our thrust on exports, coupled with CEPA and going forward our FTA negotiations with the GCC, Australia and Canada will further enhance the country's market access and help boost our exports.’ He said the CEPA will open doors especially for the labour-intensive Indian products which are exported to the UAE, including textiles, gems and jewellery, medicines, agricultural products, footwear, leather, sports goods, engineering goods, auto components and plastics.

He noted that around 90 per cent of products exported from India to UAE will attract zero duty with implementation of the agreement. About 80 per cent lines of trade will attract zero duty, remaining 20 per cent does not affect exports much, so this is a win-win agreement. He also said the CEPA will not only improve competitiveness of Indian products, but also provide strategic advantages to India. He said ‘since UAE functions as a trading hub, the agreement will help provide us market entry points to Africa, Middle East and Europe’. With this agreement, he said India and the UAE aim to increase bilateral trade to over $100 billion the next five years.