H.E. Al Zeyoudi & Indian Minister of Food Processing Industries discuss strengthening of trade & investment cooperation

Non-oil trade between the two countries amounted to AED 181 billion in 2022

H.E. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, held a meeting with H.E. Pashupati Kumar Paras, Minister of Food Processing Industries in India, to discuss the strengthening of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, H.E. Al Zeyoudi emphasized the strength of UAE-India ties at every level, adding that the trade and investment exchanges between the two countries have grown exponentially thanks to the support of both leaderships.

H.E. said: “Both the UAE and Indian markets are replete with promising opportunities for strengthening our trade and investment relations, and the business communities in the two countries are already working together in several fields. We are keen to further widen and diversify the scope of this collaboration, thus maximizing available economic and trade opportunities in order to boost investment exchanges in food industry fields.”

The meeting discussed the means to enable the business communities in the two countries to explore more opportunities in the field of food security to drive the growth of food export exchanges. The ministers also emphasized the significance of Gulfood 2023 as a leading global platform that enables countries from around the world to showcase the latest technologies and innovations in the field and facilitates cooperation among the food and beverages communities.

The food trade between the UAE and India continues to grow and reached AED 10 billion in 2022, accounting for a share of 5.3 per cent in the total non-oil trade between the two sides. In July 2022,

the UAE announced a USD 2 billion investment in the development of a series of integrated food compounds in India, which rely on advanced atmospheric technology and contribute to increasing the production of crops. The UAE seeks to address food security in South Asia and the Middle East through the project.

The total non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and India in 2022 amounted to AED 181 billion, with a 10 per cent growth compared to that of 2021. The UAE is India’s third largest global trade partner.

In terms of investments, the UAE’s investment in India totaled nearly USD 15.4 billion by the end of 2022, mostly in the fields of renewable energy, communications, roads and infrastructure, real estate, and startups. Indian investments in the UAE continue to grow as well, as 11,000 new Indian companies were registered in 2022, with the total number of Indian companies in the UAE now exceeding 83,000.