India and UAE take early steps to realize ambitious economic corridor vision

It’s only been a few months since Indian Prime Minister Modi inked an agreement to develop an ambitious new trade corridor during his visit to the UAE in February. Yet already, India is taking major steps to turn this vision into a reality.

In mid-May, a high-level inter-ministerial delegation from India traveled to our partners in the Gulf. Over three days, they held important discussions at ports in Dubai, Fujairah and Abu Dhabi on how to facilitate cargo moving along the envisioned India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

Representing key ministries like Shipping, Commerce and Customs, the team shared insights with local port authorities and customs officials. Everyone involved recognizes that cooperatively addressing logistical challenges will be key to the corridor’s success in boosting trade.

Considering this project’s massive scale in connecting three major regions, it’s easy to see why simply signing a framework agreement could have led to slowed momentum over time. Instead, India is clearly intent on maintaining early engagement to ensure the hard work of implementation gets started.

As one official mentioned, reducing trade costs and bottlenecks through more integrated infrastructure will mean significant benefits for businesses on both sides. For India especially, this new conduit to the markets of Europe holds much promise.

While long-term timelines and cooperation across multiple nations mean this corridor remains a huge undertaking, these initial follow-through efforts are certainly encouraging. With continued commitment to timely discussion and problem-solving, there’s hope this modernized trade route could start streamlining cargo flows sooner rather than later.