Virtual Seminar GCC-India Trade
and post Covid Challenges and Opportunities
Organized by
Arab Planning Institute (API) & Observer Research
Foundation (ORF)
Wednesday: October 27th, 2021
The Arab Planning Institute, in
cooperation with the Observatory of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) which
is based in the Republic of India, organized a Webinar on “GCC-India Trade and
post Covid Challenges and Opportunities” on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at
14:30 pm Kuwait time. The event was organized as part of the framework of the
Arabian Sea Dialogue Forum sponsored by both API and ORF. The forum is dedicated to the development and
promotion of GCC-Indian relations.
A group of distinguished experts
from both India and the Arab Gulf countries contributed by delivering deep
analysis and policy advise. The forum was devoted to discussing two main issues:
(1) Post-Covid-19
challenges and opportunities.
(2) Analysis of
the Indo-Gulf Free Trade Area and issues related to trade and investment.
Concerning the challenges facing
the economies of India and Gulf countries in the post-Covid, the experts
delivered in-depth analysis of all challenges and opportunities facing both, especially
those related to re-launching investment and growth considering the financing
challenges resulting from lax policies designed to confront the pandemic, in
addition to the looming inflation threats, which represent a fundamental
challenge for decision-makers. This is because fiscal and monetary policies have
not yet achieved the goals of recovery and a return pre-pandemic level. The
researchers stressed the need to monitor economic conditions in the short term
and be prepared to change policies if it proves that inflation is not
temporary.
In the field of foreign trade, the expert panel
presented an in-depth analysis of the issues related to trade and investment between
India and the Gulf countries. They stressed the challenges facing trade in
goods and services, expatriate labor, and energy in light of the reverse in
trade policies closure caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. The trade policies in
the form of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB) and anti-dumping policies represent a
serious handicap that is delaying the completion of the free trade area agreement
between India and the Gulf states. These policies are used to protect the
economy from foreign competition. The experts stressed the need to simplify
procedures and facilitate trade in order to open the way towards concluding a
free trade agreement between the two regions.