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The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has said that a free trade agreement with Oman will help boost apparel exports as huge business opportunities are there in the Gulf nation for Indian exporters. Negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), are moving at a fast pace.

AEPC said that the swift movement towards CEPA is encouraging and will be a game changer for India- Oman bilateral trade. The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $12.39 billion in 2022-23, up from $9.99 billion in the previous year. AEPC Secretary General Mithileshwar Thakur said The RMG (readymade garments) exports to Oman grew from $13 million in 2020 to $28 million in 2021. 

The customs duty in Oman is 5 per cent on RMG products. Though it is a small market but has immense potential to grow once tariff is eliminated post-FTA and will be another doorway to GCC countries. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a union of six countries in the Gulf region - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India.