Third edition of Logix India 2022 which was held recently in Dubai provided a common platform to leading Indian and UAE logistics companies to congregate and endeavour to make trade and investment of both countries and the region more competitive. It also highlighted the benefits of using the UAE as a hub to re-export Indian goods to the world.
Abigail Mathias
The third edition of Logix India 2022 took place a month after both countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to boost their merchandise trade to US$100 billion over the coming five years. CEPA becomes effective by the first week of May.
His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; His Excellency Ahmad Mahboob, Director-General, Dubai Customs; Dr. Aman Puri, Indian Consul General to Dubai among others attended the event.
Sunja Sudhir, Indian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said, “CEPA will strengthen the trade and economic ties between India and the UAE and thus, enhance the logistics sector will act as a trade facilitation for Indian exports.” He said Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) played a transforming role in inculcating an export culture and promoting exports of Indian goods and services to global markets.
The trade agreement aims to promote trade, investments and offer robust dispute resolution between India and the UAE. Key logistics players in India and UAE utilized the event, organised by the FIEO and supported by the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India and NAFL-UAE, to improve the prospects of the freight and
logistics market after the pandemic caused losses to tourism, aviation and logistics.
Addressing the gathering, Nadia Abdul Aziz, President, National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL-UAE) said, “We welcome representatives of the Indian firms. The event will open new growth opportunities for the India and UAE as they work towards achieving better results. The event has boosted the trade ties between the two nations.” Investment by the Indian firms in the UAE stands at over US $85 billion. The Indian logistics market is estimated to grow to US$ 380 billion by 2025 and the freight and logistics market in the UAE will generate over US$ 31.41 billion by 2026. As per 2019-20, the UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner, after the US and China in bilateral trade.
On the second day, Omar Khan Abdulla, Director of International Offices at Dubai Chamber, talked about the trade potential of UAE-India. The other speakers included Director-General of FIEO, Dr Ajay Sahai. Aziz will be working with the Indian freight officials about the areas of collaboration, capacity building and increasing and facilitating trade by the supply chain.
Later, the participants visited JAFZA, the UAE’s first free zone in Jebel Ali spread over 1.58 million square metres and housing 8,700 global companies, including 100 of Fortune Global 500 companies, facilitating trade worth US$99.5 billion in 2019. The participants also visited Expo 2020 Dubai.
