One year of India-UAE trade pact, no sign of boost to apparel exports

India and the United Arab Emirates had signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement one year ago on February 18, 2022. Subsequently, the agreement came into effect on May 1. However, India’s apparel exports to the gulf nation have not seen a major boost. In fact, India’s exports in 2022 are unlikely to touch the 2021 level.

According to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro, India’s apparel export to the UAE was valued at $1,163.342 million in January-November 2022. The total shipment for the full year 2022 is unlikely to cross the export figure of $1,921.051 million in the preceding year.

The trade data shows that apparel shipment slipped to $1,516.461 million in 2020 from $1,861.178 million of 2019. But it recovered sharply in following year 2021.

Quarterly export figures also indicate the same trend. Apparel exports from India to UAE was $273.258 million in October-December 2021. It increased to $388.519 million in January-March 2022. But the shipment declined to $312.943 million in April-June 2022 and further to $284.967 million in July-September 2022. The trade vlaue was $176.911 million in October-November 2022, as per TexPro.