New Delhi, Feb 20 (TIWN) India's industry bodies have welcomed India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) trade pact, citing it as an enabler to increase exports.

On Friday, India and the UAE entered into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).  The agreement to boost bilateral trade is expected to be implemented within 60 days and entails enhanced market access and reduced tariff.  It is expected that the CEPA will lead to an increase in bilateral trade from the current $60 to $100 billion in the next five years.  The India-UAE CEPA is the first bilateral trade accord concluded by the UAE, and is also India's first bilateral trade agreement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  At present, UAE is India's second largest export destination next only to the US.  In the first nine months of the current financial year, India's exports to the UAE has already crossed $20 billion.  "CEPA with UAE will be extremely beneficial to Indian exports, particularly for the labour-intensive sectors like agriculture and processed food, including meat and marine products, gems and jewellery, apparel and textiles, leather and footwear as well as other sectors like engineering, organic chemicals, plastics, paper and paper products, iron and steel, electrical and electronics goods, automobile and auto components and pharmaceuticals," said A. Sakthivel, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations.