Cepa

India, South Korea likely to hold FTA review negotiations on May 25

India and South Korea are expected to hold negotiations on May 25 regarding the review of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), which was implemented in January 2010, an official said. The deliberations are important as India has suggested Korea to consider negotiating a fresh bilateral trade agreement to make it more contemporary and address concerns of the trade deficit. "The officials of the two countries are meeting on May 25 for the FTA review," the official said. Last month, in a bilateral meeting here, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made the suggestion to negotiate a fresh FTA to his Korean counterpart Yeo Han-koo. The minister, on multiple occasions, flagged India's concerns over the widening trade deficit between the two countries. India's exports to Korea declined 9.3 per cent to USD 5.81 billion in 2024-25 from USD 6.41 billion in 2023-24. Imports fell marginally by 0.34 per cent to USD 21 billion in 2024-25, leaving a trade deficit of US

India, Canada begin second round of CEPA trade talks to boost ties

India and Canada on Monday started second round of negotiations for a free trade agreement aimed at boosting two-way commerce and investments, an official said. The pact is officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and negotiations will cover trade in goods, services, and other mutually agreed policy areas. "The five-day talks started on May 4 here," the official said. The first round was held in March. This round is important as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Canada by end of this month to give an impetus to the negotiations. The negotiations mark the resumption of talks, as the two countries had earlier engaged in a similar exercise, but Canada paused it in 2023. Now, they decided to resume talks from the beginning as a lot has changed on the global trade front during these two years. The negotiations are important as the two sides have fixed a target to increase the bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030. It stood at

India-UAE trade crosses $100 billion under free trade pact: Piyush Goyal

The India-UAE free trade agreement, which came into force in May 2022, has helped the bilateral trade to cross USD 100 billion, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the UAE acts as a gateway to Africa, other GCC and Middle Eastern countries, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries and some European countries. Bilateral merchandise trade has grown strongly, crossing USD 100 billion, with services trade also rising steadily and opening new markets and greater value, he said in a social media post. The bilateral trade stood at USD 101.25 billion in 2025-26 compared to USD 100.03 billion in 2024-25. The trade, he said, has expanded in key sectors like gems and jewellery, engineering goods, electronics, and agriculture. During 2025-26, India's exports to the UAE rose about 2 per cent to USD 37.36 billion, while imports were up 0.77 per cent to USD 63.89 billion, resulting in a trade deficit o

Datanomics: Skew towards UAE continues in bilateral trade with India

India-UAE trade crossed $100 billion in FY25, but rising imports-especially energy-have widened India's trade deficit despite CEPA-driven export diversification

Piyush Goyal may travel to Canada in February to resume FTA talks

Piyush Goyal may visit Canada in February, paving the way for restarting stalled India-Canada trade talks after a two-year diplomatic freeze over the Nijjar controversy

India-Oman trade agreement opens the door to social security talks

In 2024, India's bilateral services trade with Oman stood at $863 million, with exports of $665 million and imports of $198 million, resulting in a surplus of $447 million for India

Trade deal: India gets zero-duty access on over 99% exports to Oman

Under the trade deal, Oman has offered India zero-duty market access on 98 per cent of its tariff lines, covering over 99 per cent of India's exports to Oman

Next round of talks on proposed trade pact with Chile likely in Dec

The next round of negotiations between India and Chile on the proposed free trade agreement is expected to be held in December here, an official said. The pact with the the South American nation may help India access critical minerals, which are key inputs for electronics, auto, and solar sectors. India and Chile concluded the third round of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Santiago. The four-day talks concluded on October 30. India is seeking preferential treatment for critical minerals in Chile under the pact. India's growing trade engagement with Chile reflects its strategic focus on building stronger partnerships with the Latin American region through mutually beneficial and comprehensive economic cooperation frameworks, the official said. India and Chile implemented a preferential trade agreement (PTA) in 2006 and are now negotiating to widen its scope for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. CEPA aims to build upon the exis

Piyush Goyal to visit Qatar for talks on comprehensive trade pact

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's Qatar visit on October 6-7 will include talks on the proposed India-Qatar trade agreement, reviewing bilateral trade and strengthening sectoral cooperation

India, Oman free trade agreement likely to be announced soon, says official

The conclusion and signing of the proposed free trade agreement between India and Oman is expected to be announced soon, an official has said. The trade pact text is being translated into Arabic in Oman. After that, the cabinets of both countries will approve the agreement, according to the official. "Both countries have, in principle, decided to announce the conclusion and signing together," the official added. When asked if it would take two to three months, the official said: "Much less" than that. The talks for the agreement, officially termed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), formally began in November 2023. In such agreements, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investments. Oman is the third-largest export destination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for India. India already has a

Govt tightens gold import rules, plugs Dubai route misuse under CEPA

Only authorised importers can now bring gold or silver under India-UAE CEPA; new codes introduced to curb gold misdeclared as platinum to avoid higher duties

GTRI suggests duty cuts withdrawal on gold jewellery under India-UAE FTA

With the government seeking a review of certain provisions of a free trade agreement with UAE, think tank GTRI on Friday asked for the withdrawal of duty cut concessions on platinum, silver, diamonds, gold jewellery, and tweak the rules of origin norms in the pact. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on February 18, 2022, and implemented on May 1, 2022. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has earlier stated that the pact contains provisions for unlimited imports of duty-free gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds into India over the next few years and it would hurt domestic industry. It has also alleged that there is a potential misuse of the rules of origin in the agreement and due to that India should review the CEPA. Meeting these rules are must to get duty concessions under the agreement. In the review, it said India should focus on issues such as "withdraw

'Centre must revise gold, silver concessional duty under India-UAE CEPA'

Under the CEPA, India allows 7 per cent customs duty concessions on import of unlimited quantities of silver and 1 per cent concession on 160 metric tonnes of gold

Likely pact with Oman comes as a welcome surprise in India's FTA drive

CEPA is also commonly referred to as a free trade agreement, or FTA. The next round of talks for it with Oman are scheduled to start on January 16

Duty concessions on petrochemical products key in India-Oman FTA talks

Customs duty concession demand on petrochemical products such as polypropylene and polyethylene, used primarily in the plastics industry, may act as a sticking point in the early conclusion of talks for the proposed free-trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman, according to an official. Negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), are in the last phase. Certain domestic players from both public and private sectors are opposing duty concessions on these products under the agreement. They are claiming that Oman provides huge subsidies to its industry on raw materials for the production of these petrochemical products. According to them, if India would give duty concessions on these already subsidised products, it would be a double advantage for Omani firms. The government official said that they are holding talks with domestic players on the issue. Officials of the two countries concluded the second round of talks for th

India, Oman free trade agreement likely to be inked next month: Official

The negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are moving at a fast pace and the pact is likely to be signed next month, a senior government official said. Officials of the two countries concluded the second round of talks for the pact, officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) earlier this month in Muscat. "With Oman, there is a very good progress and both sides are very eager to conclude this deal. It may be signed in January 2024," the official said. The negotiations on the text of most of the chapters have been concluded by both sides. Oman is India's third-largest export destination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The pact would help increase exports from India post the free trade agreement, as currently over 80 per cent of its goods enter Oman at an average 5 per cent import duties, and there are not many trade barriers. According to think tank GTRI's (Global Trade Research Initiative) ..

Indian officials in Muscat to negotiate free trade pact with Oman

It is learnt that the department of commerce has set an internal deadline of finalising the deal by month-end

30% of UAE's gems, jewellery sourced from India: Export Promotion Council

The gem and jewellery trade between India and UAE has grown significantly, particularly following the India-UAE CEPA agreement, and about 30 per cent of the total gems and jewellery imported by the emirate is sourced from India, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said. The UAE currently imports gems and jewellery amounting to USD 3.12 billion from India, the GJEPC said. The UAE imports a total of USD 10.48 billion worth of jewellery from around the world, and a significant portion, approximately 30 per cent is sourced from India," Vipul Shah, the Chairman of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), has said. Shah made the remarks while addressing the third edition of the International Gem and Jewellery Show (IGJS) in Dubai on Tuesday. The show from October 10-12 is supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Government of India, and the Embassy of India in UAE. Additionally, it is supported by Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group, while Suntech

India actively considering CEPAs, FTAs to boost textile exports: Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said India is actively considering entering into free trade pacts and comprehensive economic partnership agreements to tap new markets, increase exports and create opportunities for the domestic textile industry. The Minister of Textiles highlighted that the Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park is being established across 7 states to promote India's textile sector in a significant manner. Goyal said PM MITRA Parks will lead to a reduction of logistic costs due to a cluster-based approach to manufacturing and production of quality products with appropriate testing facilities. The minister emphasised that countrymen deserve the best quality of garments and this should be ensured by all the stakeholders. He encouraged the industry to focus on quality and test their products to comply with quality standards. Goyal said India is pioneering sustainable textiles, contributing to a lesser carbon footprint and promo

India planning to seek easier entry for dentists, nurses, CAs into the UAE

India will seek easier entry for dentists, nurses, company secretaries into the UAE as it explores mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with the latter as part of CEPA