The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India discussed the financial and economic cooperation opportunities on the sidelines of the Washington G20 (Group of 20) meetings.
Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, met Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, to bolster cooperation ties with India.
Reportedly, the UAE’s Ministry of Finance aims to strengthen bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and India in all areas of common interest, especially in the financial, economic, and commercial sectors.
Younis Haji Al Khoori, undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance; and Ali Abdullah Sharafi, assistant undersecretary of the International Financial Relationship Sector at the Ministry of Finance; also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Al Hussaini thanked India for inviting the UAE as a guest country to the G20 during India’s Presidency and reiterated that his country supports the priorities set by India’s forthcoming G20 presidency.
The UAE and India also discussed the energy and climate priorities identified in the agenda of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is scheduled to take place in Dubai, the UAE, in 2023.
India is also the largest trading partner of the UAE in terms of non-oil exports and one of the largest investment partners of the UAE. India’s non-petroleum exports to the UAE from June to August 2022 were $5.92 billion, an increase of 14% from the last year.
Earlier this year, a landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed between India and the UAE to boost bilateral relations and economic cooperation between the two countries.
According to Indian officials, the agreement will increase bilateral trade from the current $60 billion to $100 billion in the next five years. Under the CEPA, around 90 percent of India’s export value to the UAE will be removed and 80 percent of lines of trade from India to the UAE will attract zero duty.