UAE is India’s largest trading partner: Report

Mtoday news

DUBAI, Nov 21: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the country’s largest trading partner in term of total trade exchange in the first half of 2010, says a media report.


"The UAE is India’s largest trading partner in terms of India’s total trade exchange in the first half of the current year," the Emirates News Agency said, citing a report by the analysis and trade information department at the ministry of foreign trade.

Non-oil trade exchange between the UAE and India grew by 57 per cent to reach USD 20.4 billion in the first half of 2010, according to the report by the analysis and trade information department at the ministry of foreign trade (moft) quoted by the agency.

The report is released on the occasion India’s President Pratibha Devisingh Patil five-day visit to the UAE.

MoFT’s survey revealed a positive shift from a trade deficit during the first quarter of 2009 worth about USD 2.9 billion. This has now changed to a surplus of USD 571 million during the first half of 2010.

According to the figures, the UAE-India trade deficit is shrinking by 120 per cent as UAE’s total non-oil exports to the sub-continent have grown by 75 per cent to reach USD 4 billion in the first half of this year.

The study, prepared by researcher Yousef Diab and was supervised by Mattar Ahmed, head of the analysis and trade information department at moft, expected the value of trade exchange between both countries to reach USD 32.7 billion in 2010 from USD 29.4 billion last year.

Value of Indian investments in the UAE in 2007 was USD 2.5 billion, which accounted for seven per cent of total foreign direct investment in the country.

Similarly, the report noted, UAE companies invested up to USD 1.5 billion in the country over last year. It is expected that FDI investment by UAE firms will reach USD 1.9 billion by 2011.

Interestingly, the UAE’s FDI investment in India is the largest among the Arab countries as well as 10th largest globally.

The UAE’s non-oil exports to India grew by 75 per cent to reach USD 4 billion in the first half of 2010, compared to the same period of last fiscal.

The UAE investments in five major sectors of the Indian economy accounted for 48.6 per cent of the country’s total direct investment in India for which the energy sector accounted for USD 263.7 million, followed by investment in the services sector at USD 143 million, software products (USD 115 million), construction (USD 99.2 million) and tourism and hotels at (USD 84 million).