UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri will be leading a high-level business delegation to India this week to discuss ways to further promote trade and investments between the two countries, an official said. The visit, from May 11-15, assumes significance as both the countries have implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on May 1.

UAE’s minister for small and medium enterprises is also part of the delegation.

“It will be an important visit as we have implemented the free trade pact,” the official said.

The CEPA is expected to boost bilateral trade to $100 billion in the next five years from $60 billion at present.

Under the trade agreement, domestic exporters in various sectors like textiles, agriculture, dry fruits, gems and jewellery are availing duty-free access to the UAE market.

The UAE is one of the largest trading partners of India and that country is a gateway to the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Overall, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97 per cent of its tariff lines (or goods), which account for 99 per cent of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms — particularly from labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, and engineering products.