India-UAE Launch Virtual Trade Corridor to Boost Business Efficiency
India-UAE Agreements Significantly Enhance Trade Efficiency and Investment Cooperation
India and UAE Unveil Virtual Trade Corridor to Boost Economic Ties
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 10: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Saeed Al Nahyan, who is on an official visit to India, attended a business event in Mumbai on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the two countries signed key agreements aimed at increasing trade and investment between the two countries.
The first agreement introduces the India-UAE Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC) and MAITRI interface, which will facilitate trade and reduce administrative processes, logistics and transport costs.
The second agreement is a Memorandum of Understanding between International Resources Holding RSC LTD and the Consortium of Indian Companies for Global Cooperation in Critical Mineral Supply Chain Exploration in Third Countries.
“Initiation of work on India-UAE Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC) and MAITRI interface to facilitate VTC under the framework agreement between India and UAE on India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC),” an official statement said. .
Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC) will be an integral part of IMEEC. Benefits of VTC include reduction of administrative processes and time, reduction of logistics and transport costs and ease of doing business.
Maitri is the premier application for international trade and regulatory interface that integrates multiple Indian functional portals to facilitate interface with UAE portals.
It improves efficiency, improves technologies, facilitates regulatory compliance, streamlines operations and increases transparency. Maitri is also scalable, secure, unified and reliable.
IMEEC is an ambitious infrastructure project that will define global connectivity for decades to come.
Following the project’s announcement at the G20 summit in Delhi last September, India and the UAE took the lead in February this year when an intergovernmental framework agreement for the implementation of the IMEEC was signed during the Prime Minister’s visit to Abu Dhabi.
“MoU between International Resources Holding RSC Ltd and consortium of Oil India Ltd, Kanij Bidesh India Ltd and ONGC India Ltd towards global cooperation in critical minerals supply chain,” official statement.
“This MoU provides for cooperation in critical mineral exploration in third countries. This will help increase supply chain resilience of critical minerals. Critical minerals are critical to powering the digital economy of the 21st century,” the statement added.
According to an official report, India-UAE trade is expected to reach USD 84 billion by 2023-24, making the UAE India’s third largest trading partner after China and the US.
Also, the UAE is India’s second largest export destination (after the US) with a turnover of nearly USD 36 billion by 2023-24.
UAE’s investment in India between 2000-2023 is estimated at around USD 20-21 billion, of which USD 18.5 billion is in the form of FDI and the rest is portfolio investment. In 2023-2024, UAE is the 6th largest FDI investor in India.
The UAE has pledged to invest US$ 75 billion in India’s infrastructure sector over a period of time.
