Abu Dhabi, April 1 (IANS/WAM) India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters.
The agreement was signed between visiting Indian customs delegation led by Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairman Satish Kumar Goel and the UAE’s Federal Customs Authority (FCA).
Indian ambassador to UAE M.K. Lokesh and Consul General Sanjay Verma were also present.
Khaled Ali Al Bustani, FCA acting director general, said the UAE was keen on boosting trade with India as it has been a top-ranking country in non-oil trade over the past years.
Mutual trade has grown over the past years, reaching 787 billion dirhams (around $214 billion) from 2003 to October 2011.
Re-exports from the UAE to India were worth 225 billion dirhams (over $60 billion) during the same period. Exports to India touched 120 billion dirhams ($32 billion) while the imports from India reached 440 billion dirhams ($120 billion).
Goel said he was looking forward to seeing legitimate trade grow further between the two countries.
Lokesh said that “being the largest trade partners for each other, the agreement is very important in further facilitating trade between India and the UAE”.
The agreement includes the fight against practices that jeopardise security, economy and safety of the society, development of customs awareness and culture by exchanging experiences and information and offering joint training courses.
–IANS/WAM
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