UAE’s Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini and Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met on the sidelines of G20 meetings in Washington…reports Asian Lite News
UAE’s Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini has met with India’s Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Washington.
Held on the sidelines of the G20 meetings, the meeting sought to discuss means of boosting mutual cooperation between both countries in areas of common interest.
During the meeting, Al Hussaini emphasised MoF’s keenness to strengthen UAE-India bilateral relations to include all areas of common interest, particularly in the financial, economic, and commercial sectors.
He also thanked India for inviting the UAE as a guest country to the G20 during India Presidency, and reiterated that the UAE supports the priorities set by India’s forthcoming G20 presidency.
“The Ministry of Finance is keen to continue strengthening its relations with various countries, to open new horizons for cooperation in financial policy, macroeconomics, and investment. The Ministry is also keen to coordinate joint efforts in light of the unprecedented challenges and circumstances the world is facing today,” Al Hussaini added.
The meeting deliberated the priorities set by India in its upcoming G20 presidency and the ways the UAE can support these priorities. The meeting also discussed the inclusion and integration of the energy and climate priorities identified in the agenda of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in addition to other topics of common interest.
The meeting was attended by Younis Haji Al Khoori, Under-Secretary of Ministry of Finance; and Ali Abdullah Sharafi, Assistant Under-Secretary of the International Financial Relationship Sector at the Ministry of Finance; alongside senior officials from both parties.
Business and investments
In Mumbai, officials of India and UAE last week held the tenth meeting of high-level joint task force to fast-track mechanism for investments in UAE.
India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Emirate of Abu Dhabi Executive Council Member Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan co-chaired the meeting.
The joint task force was established in 2013 to promote trade, investment and economic ties between the UAE and India. This was the first meeting of the joint task force since the signing of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and unveiling of the Joint UAE-India Vision Statement in February 2022 during the virtual summit between Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.
The CEPA is a major trade agreement set to transform bilateral economic, trade and investment ties and propel economic growth. Both these historic landmarks provide a clear roadmap for continued strengthening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries at an accelerated pace.
During this tenth meeting of the Joint Task Force, the co-chairs recognised the early trends of positive impact of the historic India-UAE CEPA on bilateral trade between the two countries since it entered into force in May 2022.
The co-chairs urged businessmen on both sides to gain optimal benefits from the conducive trade ecosystem created under CEPA. The co-chairs also noted progress on various aspects of the CEPA including establishment of the CEPA joint committee and related sub-committees.
The two delegations, the official statement said, reviewed the status of the negotiations of the India-UAE Bilateral Investment Treaty. It added that twelve rounds of negotiations had been conducted till date. Both sides noted that much progress could have been achieved since the commencement of the negotiations, and therefore reiterated their commitment to accelerate the process for an early conclusion of a balanced and mutually beneficial agreement.
The statement revealed that an important area discussed was the creation of a mechanism for carrying out bilateral trade in national currencies. Referring to the ongoing discussions between Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) as a common digital payments platform, both sides agreed to continue discussions.
