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UAE-India trade to cross $100 billion by 2020: Minister

gandhinagar - The balance of trade volume between India and the UAE is now worth $57 billion

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Dr Ahmed Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India, on Saturday.

They explored prospects for further cooperation between the UAE and India, building on the strong existing ties between the two countries.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ninth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit that drew the participation of a high-level UAE delegation, led by Al Zeyoudi.

During his keynote address at the summit's inauguration ceremony, Al Zeyoudi said: "The UAE and India enjoy long-standing and cordial relations across multiple fronts. Backed by the political and people-to-people interactions, bilateral trade continued to soar despite global headwinds."

"Valued at $180 million per annum in the 1970s, the balance of trade volume between India and the UAE is now worth $57 billion, making India the largest trading partner of the UAE, while the UAE is India's third largest trading partner - after China and the US. 2018 saw a flurry of investments by UAE companies in India, and the UAE-India relationship has entered a vibrant growth phase with bilateral trade on track to exceed $100 billion by 2020," he added.

The UAE minister noted that the UAE hosts one of the largest Indian expatriate community in the world, comprising more than 3.3 million people. The UAE is currently the largest source of remittances to India that amounted to $13.82 billion in 2017. - Wam