8SEPTEMBER, 2025INDIA-UAE AIM TO DOUBLE NON-OIL TRADE IN COMING YEARSCENTRE, STATES TO BOOST GCC GROWTH & SUPPORT SMALLER CITIESAccording to Piyush Goyal, the Commerce and Industry Minister, India and the UAE have agreed to double the bilateral trade in non-oil, non-precious metal trade to $100 billion in 3-4 years.At present, the bilateral trade in non-oil, and non-precious metals is around $50-55 billion. The minister added that by leveraging India's skilled workforce and the UAE's investment capabilities, both parties have agreed to collaborate on ways to invest in areas such as infrastructure in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Africa.These issues were discussed during the 13th meeting of the India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments here. It was co-chaired by visiting Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, MD of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. "We have set a new target to double bilateral trade in non-oil and non-precious metals to $ 100 billion in the next 3-4 years,"Goyal told reporters here. He said both sides also explored new frontiers for investment and collaboration, especially in the maritime, defence, aerospace, and space sectors to drive mutual growth.He noted that trade in local currency is also increasing. Local currency trade reduces transaction costs for traders and facilitates transactions. Goyal is heading a business delegation of 70 members here. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated on Wednesday that the central government is dedicated to working with states to establish the ideal environment for multinational companies to establish their captive units in India, known as global capability centers (GCCs), and to allow smaller cities to compete with metros in this area.While speaking at the GCC business summit in Andhra Pradesh organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Sitharaman stated that for India to obtain the maximum advantage from these units that do technology development taking advantage of India's available talent pool, it is vital to mesh national and state policies.The policies will also need to be tweaked to ensure that states leverage their own comparative advantage, according to the minister. Multilateral firms in nations like India have established GCCs, or captive offshore units, to manage important business tasks, such as technology development, for their international operations.Regarding India's potential in this area, Sitharaman stated that the sector's growth has been in line with projections and that GCC countries have taken on an Indian flavor.The minister also acknowledged the necessity of developing infrastructure ecosystems that support smaller cities in attracting global talent and corporate reinvestment, as well as promoting high-value innovation and service delivery. She argued that these initiatives could make smaller cities credible alternatives to metro areas.Sitharaman explained that the central government has been progressively growing its capital expenditure to build infrastructure and alleviate the challenges. TOP STORIES8SEPTEMBER, 2025
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