Page 391 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2024 (Part 2)

Under the theme “Beyond Cepa: Innovation and Future-Ready Economies”, the forum will
showcase the range of sectors that are ripe for private-sector collaboration, with a particular focus
on the potential of healthcare, biotechnology, renewable energy, sustainability, AI, logistics and
supply chains, and agricultural technology. It will be attended Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi,
Minister of State for Foreign Trade, who is heading a high-level UAE delegation.

Al Zeyoudi said: “The India-UAE Business Forum is another important opportunity to bring our
business leaders together to discuss areas of mutual benefit, and develop the networks that will
support our respective economic growth and diversification objectives. The forum will build on the
consistent rise in bilateral non-oil trade, which reached $28.2 billion in the first six months of 2024 –
a 9.8 per cent increase on the same period in 2023 and set against a marked decline in trade growth
around the world in H1 2024. The figures underline the benefits of the UAE-India Cepa, which has
proved to be a major driver of industrial output, employment and global competitiveness, and
provide the platform for greater collaboration in the months and years ahead.”

The forum’s panels reflect the breadth of opportunity in front the private sector. They include
“Healthcare and Biotechnology: Pioneering the Future of Medicine”, which will focus on ways the
UAE and India can leverage the Cepa to develop partnerships in biotechnology, genomic medicine,
AI-driven healthcare, digital health, and pharmaceutical research.

The session on AI and emerging technologies will seek to explore how these tools can be developed
and the areas that can benefit from them, while the session “Renewable Energy & Sustainability:
Pioneering the Green Revolution” will help showcase the UAE’s pioneering work in delivering wind,
solar and geothermal solutions across the developing world. Other sessions discuss opportunities
in logistics and agricultural technology and sustainable farming practices.

The UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was the first part of the UAE’s new
foreign trade agenda that sought to strengthen ties with strategically important nations around the
world. Following its implementation in May 2022, businesses in both countries are benefitting from
a reduction or removal of tariffs on more than 80 percent of products, the removal of unnecessary
barriers to trade and the harmonization of customs regulations and processes.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/india-uae-business-forum-in-mumbai-to-leverage-
opportunities-in-key-sectors