Piyush Goyal Sees India-UAE Trade Sans Oil, Gold Doubling To $100 Billion

India and the United Arab Emirates are partners aiming to double their bilateral trade, and there is "no competition" between the two countries, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The two countries have set a target to double bilateral trade in non-oil and non-precious metal to $100 billion over the next 3-4 years, he stressed.

Goyal has been in the UAE to co-chair the 13th Meeting of the India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments.

He also talked about areas that the two countries are exploring to expand trade. "One is the textile sector. Textiles, home decor, and the entire chain. One is the fisheries sector, leather and leather goods, food processing, and pharmaceuticals," Goyal stated.

The minister also informed India and UAE are also looking into jointly developing infrastructure projects in third countries, mining, and housing.

Goyal mentioned that defence, aerospace, and space technology as three more sectors for investment. On UPl in the UAE, the minister said work is moving fast on this, and soon remittances will start.

Goyal also flagged the issue of posting an Income Tax officer in the UAE and remarked, "For many years, the issue of posting an Income Tax officer here was pending. I raised in the last HLTFI. Very quickly, within a short time, the UAE accepted it, and now an Income Tax officer lives in our embassy, ​​helping to speed up the exchange of financial information."

Goyal also clarified that New Delhi is not encouraging the export of Indian products to the United States via the UAE.

"At no point in time would we like to see, encourage, or even allow Indian exports to go to America from the UAE. But if those goods come to the UAE and are sent to other Asian countries, African countries, or other parts of the region, declaring them to be made in India goods, I think it would be a very welcome step," he said.

(With PTI inputs)