India, Oman FTA Talks In Progress

New Delhi: Negotiations for a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are progressing at a healthy pace and the two sides will hold another round of talks to resolve the pending issues, an official said. The official said that issues pertaining to petrochemical products have been resolved. The negotiations received a much need impetus after the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Muscat last month. “One more round of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will happen,” the official added.

On January 27 in Muscat, trade ministers of India and Oman reviewed progress of the proposed agreement and focused on advancing the negotiations for the pact. The agreement was discussed between Goyal and Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef.

On January 14, India and Oman held the fifth round of talks for the agreement, aiming to boost bilateral economic ties. The negotiations for the agreement, officially dubbed CEPA, formally began in November 2023. In such agreements, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investments. Oman is the third largest export destination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for India. India already has a similar agreement with another GCC member UAE which came into effect in May 2022. The bilateral trade has declined to $8.94 billion (exports $4.42 billion and imports $4.5 billion) in 2023-24 from $12.39 billion (exports $4.47 billion and imports $7.91 billion) in 2022-23. India’s key imports are petroleum products and urea. These account for over 70 per cent of imports. Other key products are propylene and ethylene polymers, pet coke, gypsum, chemicals, and iron and steel.