NEW DELHI: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced that India and the UAE are working on interlinking India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with the UAE’s AANI system to enable seamless cross-border transactions between the two countries. This move is set to benefit the over 3 million Indians residing in the UAE, allowing them to use the power of UPI and AANI for smoother financial exchanges.

Goyal announced during a press conference following the 12th meeting of the India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investment, co-chaired by Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), in Mumbai.

UAE has also agreed to invest in setting up food parks across India, with an expected investment of around $2 billion over the next two to two-and-a-half years. These food parks are projected to strengthen food security for the UAE while simultaneously boosting income for Indian farmers and creating jobs for Indian youth. A working group, comprising members from both the central and state governments of India and the UAE, will be established to ensure swift progress on these projects. The group will work in mission mode to develop food corridors between the two nations.

On trade relations following the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Goyal said that total trade between India and the UAE had reached $84 billion in the 2023-24 period. Significantly, the trade deficit had been reduced from $22 billion to $12 billion. In the first half of 2024, non-oil trade between the two nations grew by 9.8%, amounting to $28.2 billion.

Furthermore, foreign direct investment (FDI) has also surged as a result of the CEPA agreement. The UAE became India’s fourth-largest foreign investor in 2023, with $3.35 billion committed across various sectors, marking a threefold increase from 2022. Indian FDI in the UAE also saw a significant rise, totaling $2.05 billion in 2023—more than the combined total of 2021 and 2022.

The Indian government will also open an office of Invest India in Dubai, the first such office in the Middle East and the second overseas, after Singapore. Similarly, the UAE will open a comparable office in New Delhi to facilitate bilateral investment.

Moreover, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will establish its first overseas campus in Dubai, with short and medium-term training programs expected to begin by early 2025.

Bharat Mart, a large retail and logistics project in Dubai, is expected to be completed by 2026. Spread across 100,000 square meters, Bharat Mart will offer the benefits of both free zone and mainland retail markets, providing Indian companies with world-class logistics access. More than 9,000 expressions of interest have already been received for 1,400 units in the complex.