India-Oman To Conduct Next Round Of FTA Discussions From January 16: Official

On media reports stating that the discussions could get delayed, the official called any claims of hindrances or bottlenecks ‘speculative and presumptuous’, as the negotiations remained underway

The next discussion for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman is scheduled to start on January 16, a senior official said on Tuesday. The negotiations for the agreement are going well, the official informed.

The discussions regarding most of the agreement chapters have been concluded by both the parties, the official said. The agreement is officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), reported PTI. “The negotiations are progressing well. Two rounds of in-person negotiations and many inter-sessional meetings have already been held. Good progress has been made on all the chapters covered under the CEPA,” the official added. 

Addressing the media reports stating that the discussions could get delayed, the official noted that any claims of hindrances or bottlenecks remained ‘speculative and presumptuous’ as the negotiations were underway. “Currently, both sides are working towards conclusion of the negotiations with an objective of delivering a mutually beneficial agreement contributing to the welfare and development of the people of the two countries,” the official said. 

Oman remains India’s third-largest export destination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The bilateral trade stood at $12.39 billion in 2022-23, against $5 billion in 2018-19. India’s exports increased from $2.25 billion in 2018-19 to $4.48 billion in 2022-23. 

Indian goods worth $3.7 billion including gasoline, iron, steel, electronics, and machinery are expected to get a major push in Oman, after the completion of the FTA, a report by the think tank Global Trade Research Institute (GTRI) revealed.

India’s imports from Oman remained at nearly $8 billion in 2022-23, with major products like petroleum products ($4.6 billion), urea ($1.2 billion), propylene and ethylene polymers ($383 million).
Presently, more than 80 per cent of India’s products enter Oman at an average of 5 per cent import duties, GTRI noted. Oman’s import duty ranges from 0 to 100 per cent in addition to specific duties. 

The CEPA would help the two nations majorly limit or remove customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, and further ease norms to help promote trade in services and enhance investments. 

The report noted that Oman has a per capita income of $25,060, against India’s income of $2,370, and this could mean a demand for more diversified and likely higher-value goods and services in Oman. India would aim to supply these, the think tank said. 

The agreement is also strategically important for India, the report stated. Elaborating on the proposed agreement, global trade expert and Hi-Tech Gears chairman, Deep Kapuria, said, “This agreement would also help in boosting trade ties of India with the Middle East countries, which is a growing market for domestic products. The agreement holds importance in view of India's $1 trillion exports target of merchandise products by 2030.”