A day after his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, travelled to Mumbai to attend the India-UAE Business Forum.

The India-UAE Business Forum opened in Mumbai under the theme “Beyond CEPA: Innovation and Future-Ready Economies”.

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal addressed the forum that was attended by top industry leaders from both India and the UAE. The meetings are expected to provide a further boost to the economic aspect of the bilateral relationship.

During the forum, the Crown Prince reaffirmed the significance of the UAE-India CEPA in stimulating bilateral economic growth, as well as the UAE’s commitment to further developing economic ties with India.

The Crown Prince further highlighted that the CEPA established between the UAE and India aligns with the leadership’s vision to further strengthen sustainable economic collaboration and development.

The forum saw the exchange of agreements and launch of initiatives to nurture bilateral economic growth.

The UAE delegation at the India-UAE Business Forum was led by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and comprised senior members of UAE-based entities representing key public and private sectors.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, said: “The India-UAE Business Forum is another important opportunity to bring our business leaders together to discuss areas of mutual benefit, and develop the networks that will support our respective economic growth and diversification objectives.

“The forum will build on the consistent rise in bilateral non-oil trade, which reached US$28.2 billion in the first six months of 2024 – a 9.8 per cent increase on the same period in 2023 and set against a marked decline in trade growth around the world in H1 2024.

“The figures underline the benefits of the UAE-India CEPA, which has proved to be a major driver of industrial output, employment and global competitiveness, and provide the platform for greater collaboration in the months and years ahead.”

The main focus of the forum was on the potential of healthcare, biotechnology, renewable energy, sustainability, AI, logistics and supply chains, and agricultural technology.

The Forum has been organised by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy in collaboration with the UAE Embassy in New Delhi and India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The idea is to have a gathering of government officials, business leaders, industrialists, and entrepreneurs as part of bilateral efforts to leverage the opportunities created by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The Crown Prince is on an official visit to India from 9-10 September 2024, at the invitation of PM Modi. This is also his first official visit to India in this capacity.

Both countries signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in February 2022 and a Local Currency Settlement (LCS) System in 2023 to promote the use of Indian Rupee and AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) for cross-border transactions.

The two countries are among each other’s top trading partners with a bilateral trade of about USD 85 billion in 2022-23, according to official data.

Last year, the UAE was invited as a special invitee for the G20 Summit during India’s Presidency of the grouping.

India-UAE defence cooperation has also witnessed a renewed momentum in the last few years. In January 2024, the first India-UAE bilateral army exercise ‘Desert Cyclone’ was held in Rajasthan. – Simran Sodhi is Executive Editor of nrifocus.com