Jafza

Jebel Ali key to boosting India-UAE trade to $100bn

Officials at ‘The India-UAE Bridge: Dubai-India’s Gateway to the World’

DP World’s Jebel Ali Port and free zone will play a key role in boosting non-oil trade between the UAE and India to $100 billion over the next five years, complementing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed in February 2022.

The CEPA, which officially came into force on May 1, 2022, includes eliminating tariffs on more than 10,000 products and services over the next 10 years, which will have an enormous impact on trade between the two countries and the wider Gulf region.

In 2021, Dubai accounted for 86 per cent ($38.4 billion) of the total $44.8 billion worth of total non-oil trade between the UAE and India. Indian companies at Jafza are the second largest partners in terms of trade volume (4.4 million metric tonnes) and fourth for trade value ($6.5 billion).

“Despite macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds across the globe, India and the UAE have seen an increase in trade, with DP World as a key logistics enabler,” said DP World in a statement. “As per the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India’s non-oil trade with the UAE witnessed a 14 per cent increase during the July-August 2022 period, just months after the CEPA came into force.”

DP World recently hosted “The India-UAE Bridge; Dubai – India’s Gateway to the World” along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for key business leaders in Mumbai to showcase the role of Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone in building non-oil trade volumes between the two nations.

DP World is also supporting the ‘Make in India initiative’ and ‘Production Linked Incentive’ schemes to boost manufacturing, investments, and exports in India via its Jebel Ali hub, offering unmatched logistics and trade solutions and greater access to new markets.

The Jebel Ali Port and Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), which form a world-class, integrated ecosystem for over 9,000 companies from around the world, serve more than 3.5 billion people globally by connecting directly to 150 ports and more than 180 shipping lanes.

Through its joint investment platform with India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), DP World will invest up to $3 billion to create world-leading integrated logistics infrastructure for India.

DP World’s portfolio of multimodal logistics assets and services includes five port terminals with a total annual capacity of 6 million TEUs, as well as five container freight stations. It also operates 31 container trains, seven rail-linked private freight terminals, Cold Chain facilities and a fleet of 60 trucks.