NewDelhi [India], December 18 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal met with Oman's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Qais Bin Mohammed Al Yousef and discussed bilateral trade and investment relations between the two countries on Monday.
The leaders expressed satisfaction at the pace of ongoing negotiations for signing an India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The leaders underlined that holding two rounds of negotiations in quick succession in less than a month's time is a testimony that both countries are committed to deepening the economic relations further, said the Ministry of Finance in a press statement.
As per the statement, negotiations on the text of the India - Oman CEPA have been largely completed. The leaders exhorted their respective negotiators to conclude discussions on the remaining issues paving the way for the early conclusion of India-Oman CEPA negotiations and signing of the Agreement.
Further, both Ministers also discussed the need for a focused approach to enhancing investments in both countries. It was decided that an 'Oman Desk' would be created in Invest India for this purpose. Similarly, Invest Oman would also launch an India Desk.
This comes on the sidelines of the State Visit of the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tarik to India on December 16, 2023.
The Oman Sultan arrived in the national capital on Friday for a three-day state visit. He was received by Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, at the Delhi Airport.
India and Oman share a longstanding history of friendship and cooperation, built on the foundation of mutual trust and respect, and strong people-to-people ties going back centuries. The two countries are strategic partners and the bilateral trade and investment relationship between them has flourished since diplomatic relations were established in 1955, which was upgraded to strategic partnership in 2008, said ministry.
Bilateral trade between both the countries grew by 82.64% in 2021-2022 to reach US$ 9.99 billion. In 2022-2023, it further increased to USD 12.39 billion, more than doubling in the previous two years, in comparison to USD 5.4 billion in 2020-2021.
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