In a landmark step to additional strengthen the India-UAE financial partnership, a high-level closed-door assembly hosted by the UAE-India Enterprise Council – UAE Chapter (UIBC-UC) was convened immediately in Dubai, bringing collectively high officers and enterprise leaders from each nations.
The assembly was attended by H.E. Piyush Goyal, Hon. Commerce and Business Minister, Authorities of India, and H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of International Commerce, underscoring the strategic significance each governments place on deepening bilateral financial ties.
Representing the diplomatic corps, H.E. Sunjay Sudhir, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, and H.E. Satish Kumar Sivan, Consul Basic of India in Dubai, lauded the speedy strides made in strengthening India-UAE relations and particularly recommended the pivotal position performed by the UIBC-UC on this journey. Shri Aseem R. Mahajan, Extra Secretary (Gulf), Ministry of Exterior Affairs was additionally in attendance.
Key members of UIBC-UC had been current, together with Mr. Faizal Kottikollon, Chairman of KEF Holdings and Chairman of the UIBC-UAE Chapter; Mr. Rizwan Soomar, CEO & Managing Director – Center East, North Africa & India Subcontinent, DP World, and Co-Chair of the UIBC-UAE Chapter; and H.E. Main Basic (Retd.) Sharafuddin Sharaf, Vice Chairman of Sharaf Group and member of the UIBC-UAE Chapter.
Additionally in attendance had been board members of UIBC-UC, together with: Mr. Nilesh Ved, Chairman of Attire Group; and Mr. Ankur Gupta, Head of Company Affairs & Development, MENA at Tata Sons.
The assembly was additional enriched by the presence of UIBC-UC’s founding members: Mr. Siddharth Balachandran, Govt Chairman and CEO of Buimerc Company; Mr. Amit Jain, Group CEO of Emaar; Mr. Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder at EaseMyTrip and Mr. Neeraj Makin, Senior Govt Vice President and Group Head – Technique, Analytics & Enterprise Capital at Emirates NBD. They had been joined by secretariat members Kshitij Korde and Neha Sahni, who performed an instrumental position in facilitating the dialogue.
A central focus of the discussions was the Complete Financial Partnership Settlement (CEPA) and its transformative impression on the India-UAE financial hall. Within the first half of 2025 alone, the settlement enabled a report US$37.6 billion in non-oil bilateral commerce—a 33.9% improve over the identical interval final yr. CEPA’s success has prolonged properly past commerce volumes, driving sectoral diversification with robust development in areas akin to gems and jewelry, meals processing, telecom, inexperienced vitality, and digital providers.
Furthermore, CEPA has catalysed new collaboration throughout rising sectors together with synthetic intelligence, area expertise, sustainability, and monetary integration, considerably increasing the strategic scope of the partnership. Indian states are more and more leveraging CEPA to draw focused investments, combine small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into world worth chains, and speed up exports, reflecting the deepening synergy between India and the UAE on each financial and strategic fronts.
Concurrently, the UAE’s position as a most popular funding hub for Indian high-net-worth people and household workplaces was lauded for creating highly effective monetary synergies and enabling joint strategic ventures that strengthen long-term financial alignment.
Constructing on this momentum, UIBC-UC used this chance to launch a significant analysis initiative titled “Energy in Synergy: Unlocking India-UAE CEPA World Potential.”
The analysis paper underscores the unprecedented transformation of CEPA from a bilateral commerce accord right into a cornerstone of strategic collaboration throughout sectors, geographies, and industries.
“CEPA is now not only a commerce pact, it’s a blueprint for the long run,” stated Mr. Faizal Kottikollon, Chairman of UIBC-UC, within the paper’s foreword. “This partnership exemplifies how political will, shared imaginative and prescient, and aligned strengths can co-create a mannequin for cross-regional cooperation, innovation, and world management.”
The paper serves as a follow-up to UIBC-UC’s seminal 2023 publication, “The India-UAE Odyssey: Echoes of Historical past, CEPA’s Melody, and Prospects for Future Concord,” which mapped the historic, cultural, and financial foundations of the bilateral relationship. The UIBC-UC group integral to the analysis was additionally in attendance and included Kshitij Korde, Neha Sahni, Simar Kaur, Aiswarria Suchith, and Pratibha Prem Kumar.
The 2025 paper delves deeper into CEPA’s operationalization and post-signing impression, providing actionable insights and strategic foresight on how the settlement can scale to function a world mannequin of resilient, innovation-led cooperation. With each nations enjoying pivotal roles in multilateral groupings akin to BRICS, G20, and the India-Center East-Europe Financial Hall (IMEEC), the CEPA partnership is uniquely positioned to form world coverage, commerce
governance, and sustainable improvement. “By combining India’s manufacturing and tech strengths with the UAE’s infrastructure, funding depth, and world attain, we’re charting a brand new period of collaboration that’s future-proof, inclusive, and globally resonant,” Mr. Kottikollon added.
The UIBC-UC report gives a complete roadmap for policymakers, traders, and enterprises searching for to harness the total potential of CEPA. It strongly advocates for deepened cooperation in clear vitality, schooling, analysis ecosystems, digital integration, and human capital improvement, reinforcing the shared ambition of each nations to steer within the evolving world order.
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The closed door was adopted by a luncheon hosted by UIBC-UC with high-level trade leaders and distinguished authorities representatives. This closed-door luncheon supplied a uncommon alternative to interact with top-tier delegates accompanying the Hon’ble Minister throughout his UAE go to in addition to UIBC-UC members.