comprehensive economic partnership agreement
between india and the United Arab Emirates
(Goods and Services)

Note on the Meeting of 2 July 2024

Chair: Ambassador H.E. Salomon EHETH (Cameroon)

1.1.  The 110^th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the "Committee") was convened in Airgram _WTO/AIR/RTA/36/Rev.1 dated 21 June 2024.

1.2.  Under Agenda Item 7.1, the CRTA considered the services aspects of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates, (hereinafter "the Agreement"). The goods aspects of this Agreement, notified under the Enabling Clause, would be considered at the CTD's Dedicated Session on RTAs on 16 July 2024. The Chair stated that the Factual Presentation had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own responsibility in full consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (document _WT/L/671).

1.3.  The Agreement had entered into force on 1 May 2022. It had been notified to the WTO by the Parties on 22 September 2022 under Article V:7(a) of the GATS as an agreement establishing a free trade area for trade in services, within the meaning of Article V of the GATS (document _S/C/N/1110). The text of the Agreement, together with its Annexes, was available on the Parties' official websites and in the WTO RTA database. The Factual Presentation, document _WT/REG475/1, and questions and replies, document _WT/REG475/2, had been distributed.

1.4.  The representative of India thanked the Chair for giving her the opportunity to talk about one of India's recent FTAs. FTAs played a pivotal role in shaping India's economic landscape, fostering international relationships, and driving growth and prosperity. Moreover, the global trade environment was continually evolving. Geopolitical shifts, technological advancements, and environmental concerns were reshaping the approach to international trade.

1.5.  The Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates was a growth engine for India-UAE bilateral trade. It was a comprehensive agreement, which covered trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, dispute settlement, movement of natural persons, telecommunications, customs procedures, pharmaceutical products, Government procurement, IPRs, investment, digital trade and cooperation in other areas.

1.6.  Regarding the impact or benefits of the implementation of the Agreement, during the 1st meeting of the Joint Committee, both sides had agreed to set a target of USD 100 billion of trade in non-petroleum products by 2030. Prior to the Agreement, average exports during 2017-2022 were USD 26.36 billion. In the post-CEPA period, exports had reached USD 31.61 billion in the fiscal year 2023 and USD 35.62 billion in the fiscal year 2024, reflecting a 12.69% growth from the previous year.

1.7.  In the services domain, broader and deeper commitments had been taken across all the sectors and modes of supply. Out of the 160 services subsectors, India had made offers on 100 sub-sectors to the UAE and the UAE had made offers on 111 sub-sectors to India.

1.8.  The CEPA was also characterized by strong institutional mechanisms in the form of the Joint Trade Committee and the various Sub-Committees.

1.9.  She thanked Members for their interest in the Agreement, particularly Canada, the EU, Türkiye, the UK, for asking questions which had helped the Parties to explain the provisions of the Agreement further. The replies to those questions were contained in document _WT/REG475/2. She would be happy to clarify any further detail.

1.10.  The representative of the United Arab Emirates associated himself with the statement made by the delegation of India. He thanked Canada, the EU, the UK and Türkiye for their questions. The UAE had not been in a position to submit their responses on time due to commitments of the concerned authorities in Abu Dhabi. He had informed the Secretariat that he had received the replies to the questions and he would submit them to the CRTA for follow up.

1.11.  The representative of Canada thanked India and UAE for the information provided and for the responses to their questions. She thanked the UAE for their responses too and she looked forward to reading those.

1.12.  The representative of the European Union thanked the Parties for the presentation of the Agreement and wished them success in its implementation.

1.13.  The representative of China expressed her appreciation to the Parties for their efforts in implementing the Transparency Mechanism which had provided useful information to better understand the Agreement. She also expressed her appreciation to the Secretariat for preparing the factual presentation and wished the Parties success in the implementation of the Agreement.

1.14.  The Chair noted the consideration of the services aspects of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates, had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions and conclude oral discussion of the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. Any delegations wishing to ask follow‑up questions were invited to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 9 July 2024 and Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 23 July 2024. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as well as minutes of the meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and made available in the WTO database on RTAs.

1.15.  The Committee took note of the comments made.

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