US President Biden welcomes India-UAE Free Trade Agreement
United States President Joe Biden has welcomed the United Arab Emirates-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), among other pacts Abu Dhabi has signed during his talks with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE and US President held talks in Jeddah on 16th July during the latter’s Saudi Arabia visit. The Joint statement that was later released said, President Biden “welcomed the UAE’s economic initiatives throughout the Middle East and beyond, including its recent Free Trade Agreements signed with Israel, India, and Indonesia as well as new investments in Jordan and Egypt.”
Earlier this year, India and UAE signed the free trade agreement, hailed as the key to increased economic cooperation. The FTA is India’s 1st comprehensive trade agreement in a decade and under the deal, duty gets eliminated on 80% of tariff lines. It is not only expected to add $9 billion to UAE’s GDP by 2030 but also a market for Indian products in the entire West Asian region. The comments come even as last week saw the first I2U2 summit involving leaders of India, Israel, UAE and the US. The summit, in a hybrid mode, saw key announcements for India like the establishment of food parks and renewable energy.
