India, UAE sign Comprehensive Trade Agreement

Reference News:-

India and the United Arab Emirates have signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

What is CEPA and how is it different from FTA?

It is a kind of free trade pact which covers negotiation on the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership.

It may even consider negotiation on areas such as trade facilitation and customs cooperation, competition, and Intellectual Property Rights.
Partnership agreements or cooperation agreements are more comprehensive than Free Trade Agreements.
CEPA also looks into the regulatory aspect of trade and encompasses an agreement covering the regulatory issues.

As per the CEPA signed between India and the UAE:

90% of India’s exports will have duty-free access to the Emirates.

It covers goods, services and digital trade.

Benefits:

The bilateral trade pact is India’s first in the region and the first comprehensive trade agreement with any country in a decade.
The CEPA is likely to benefit about $26 billion worth of Indian products that are currently subjected to 5% import duty by the UAE, India’s third-biggest trading partner behind the US and China.
It is expected that the CEPA will lead to an increase in bilateral trade from the current $60 bn to $100 bn in the next 5 years.
Through the pact, Indian exporters will also get access to the much larger Arab and African markets.