Lok Sabha Question No. 2501 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-31
Subject: Trade between India and West Asia
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: VIRENDRA  KUMAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2501(H) TO BE ANSWERED ON 31 st JULY, 2017

## TRADE BETWEEN INDIA AND WEST ASIA

## 2501(H). DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the volume of trade carried out between India and West Asia during the last three years and the current year, country-wise;
- (b) whether there is adequate potential for Indian exports to these countries;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government to increase the exports to these countries and to explore the new markets; and
- (d) the success achieved by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a)  to  (d):  India's  Trade  with  West  Asia  region  comprising  GCC  countries  i.e  Bahrain, Kuwait,  Oman,  Qatar,  Saudi  Arabia,  UAE  and  other  West  Asia  region  comprising Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemenwas recorded at USD 171.91 bn,  USD  125.49  bn  and,  USD  129.97  bn,  during  the  year  2014-15,  2015-16  and 2016-17, respectively (Table1 at Annex). While in the current year (April-May) 201718, it has been recorded at USD 24.57 bn (Table-2 at Annex).  There is adequate potential for India's exports to these countries. With a view to unleash this potential, the  Government  continues  to  engage  pro-actively  with  West  Asian  Countries  to strengthen  trade  and  economic  relations.  Tariff  and  Non-Tariff  Barriers  impacting trade between India and countries in west Asian region are deliberated and reviewed for  appropriate  resolution  on  regular  basis  through  bilateral  /multilateral  forums. Trade  Fairs,  Exhibitions,  Buyer-Seller  Meets  are  regularly  organized  with  financial support of Department of Commerce under its Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme with  a  view  to  explore  opportunities  for  boosting  India's  exports  to  the  rest  of  the World  including  countries  in  West  Asia  region.India's  exports  to  countries  in  West Asia region have recorded a growth of 0.49% in the year 2016-17 over the previous year i.e 2015-16.

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| Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                  | Annex                           | Annex                           |
|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce | Department of Commerce          | Department of Commerce          |
| West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia              | West Asia                       | West Asia                       |
| (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)  | (Table-1:April-March)           | (Table-1:April-March)           |
| S.N o.                 | Country                | 2014-2015              | 2014-2015              | 2014-2015              |                        |                        | %Growth                | 2015-2016              | %Growth                | %Growth                | %Growth                | 2016-2017              | 2016-2017              | 2016-2017              | Values in US $ Millions %Growth | Values in US $ Millions %Growth |
|                        |                        | Exports                | Imports                | Total Trade            | Export s               | Imports                | Exports                | Imports                | Total Trade            | Exports                | Imports                | Exports                | Imports                | Total Trade            | Exports                         | Imports                         |
| 1                      | BAHARAIN               | 472.98                 | 446.25                 | 919.23                 | -26.02                 | -20.77                 | 654.14                 | 356.90                 | 1011.04                | 38.30                  | -20.02                 | 474.32                 | 290.69                 | 765.00                 | -27.49                          | -18.55                          |
| 2                      | IRAN                   | 4175.11                | 8955.02                | 13130.13               | -16.03                 | -13.12                 | 2781.52                | 6278.75                | 9060.27                | -33.38                 | -29.89                 | 2393.12                | 10506.51               | 12899.63               | -13.96                          | 67.33                           |
| 3                      | IRAQ                   | 829.32                 | 14247.66               | 15076.98               | -9.66                  | -23.07                 | 1004.39                | 10837.58               | 11841.98               | 21.11                  | -23.93                 | 1115.50                | 11702.07               | 12817.57               | 11.06                           | 7.98                            |
| 4                      | ISRAEL                 | 3289.87                | 2328.04                | 5617.91                | -12.20                 | 0.71                   | 2821.23                | 2095.33                | 4916.56                | -14.24                 | -10.00                 | 3064.86                | 1961.12                | 5025.97                | 8.64                            | -6.41                           |
| 5                      | JORDAN                 | 1431.11                | 857.85                 | 2288.96                | -10.32                 | 40.47                  | 499.76                 | 853.12                 | 1352.88                | -65.08                 | -0.55                  | 523.79                 | 828.24                 | 1352.03                | 4.81                            | -2.92                           |
| 6                      | KUWAIT                 | 1198.89                | 13381.97               | 14580.85               | 12.98                  | -21.99                 | 1247.51                | 4969.69                | 6217.20                | 4.06                   | -62.86                 | 1494.41                | 4456.83                | 5951.24                | 19.79                           | -10.32                          |
| 7                      | LEBANON                | 279.66                 | 39.74                  | 319.39                 | -4.72                  | 6.68                   | 239.55                 | 27.61                  | 267.16                 | -14.34                 | -30.51                 | 211.85                 | 30.21                  | 242.06                 | -11.56                          | 9.41                            |
| 8                      | OMAN                   | 2379.44                | 1752.24                | 4131.69                | -15.39                 | -40.63                 | 2190.79                | 1674.71                | 3865.50                | -7.93                  | -4.43                  | 2731.49                | 1275.11                | 4006.60                | 24.68                           | -23.86                          |
| 9                      | QATAR                  | 1054.98                | 14604.71               | 15659.69               | 8.87                   | -7.02                  | 902.04                 | 9022.16                | 9924.20                | -14.50                 | -38.22                 | 787.47                 | 7638.17                | 8425.64                | -12.70                          | -15.34                          |
| 10                     | SAUDI ARAB             | 11162.55               | 28107.56               | 39270.11               | -8.65                  | -22.79                 | 6394.48                | 20321.33               | 26715.81               | -42.71                 | -27.70                 | 5134.63                | 19945.17               | 25079.80               | -19.70                          | -1.85                           |
| 11                     | SYRIA                  | 187.89                 | 28.34                  | 216.23                 | -19.74                 | -63.01                 | 136.83                 | 40.54                  | 177.37                 | -27.17                 | 43.04                  | 122.36                 | 32.25                  | 154.60                 | -10.58                          | -20.46                          |
| 12                     | UAE                    | 33028.08               | 26139.91               | 59167.99               | 8.22                   | -9.92                  | 30290.01               | 19445.68               | 49735.69               | -8.29                  | -25.61                 | 31305.80               | 21498.20               | 52804.00               | 3.35                            | 10.56                           |
| 13                     | YEMEN                  | 992.13                 | 540.68                 | 1532.82                | -24.09                 | -30.87                 | 399.79                 | 6.88                   | 406.67                 | -59.70                 | -98.73                 | 446.90                 | 4.81                   | 451.72                 | 11.79                           | -30.05                          |
| Total of West Asia     | Total of West Asia     | 60482.01               | 111429.97              | 171911.98              |                        |                        | 49562.04               | 75930.28               | 125492.33              | -18.05                 | -31.86                 | 49806.50               | 80169.38               | 129975.86              | 0.49                            | 5.58                            |

|                         | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     | (Table-2:April-May)     |                         |
|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
|                         |                         | Country                 |                         |                         |                         | 2017-2018(P)            | 2017-2018(P)            | 2017-2018(P)            | %Growth                 | %Growth                 |
|                         | S.No.                   |                         | Exports                 | Imports                 | Total Trade             | Exports                 | Imports                 | Total Trade             | Exports                 | Imports                 |
|                         | 1                       | BAHARAIN                | 71.53                   | 62.34                   | 133.87                  | 96.16                   | 63.25                   | 159.41                  | 34.43                   | 1.46                    |
|                         | 2                       | IRAN                    | 394.70                  | 1056.49                 | 1451.19                 | 526.09                  | 1797.10                 | 2323.19                 | 33.29                   | 70.10                   |
|                         | 3                       | IRAQ                    | 134.32                  | 1850.12                 | 1984.45                 | 258.43                  | 2485.52                 | 2743.95                 | 92.39                   | 34.34                   |
|                         | 4                       | ISRAEL                  | 431.86                  | 334.09                  | 765.94                  | 553.54                  | 430.06                  | 983.61                  | 28.18                   | 28.73                   |
|                         | 5                       | JORDAN                  | 69.82                   | 167.78                  | 237.60                  | 102.55                  | 182.56                  | 285.10                  | 46.87                   | 8.80                    |
|                         | 6                       | KUWAIT                  | 250.89                  | 704.72                  | 955.61                  | 213.75                  | 1124.34                 | 1338.09                 | -14.80                  | 59.54                   |
|                         | 7                       | LEBANO N                | 32.81                   | 3.69                    | 36.50                   | 41.91                   | 3.77                    | 45.68                   | 27.73                   | 2.17                    |
|                         | 8                       | OMAN                    | 368.77                  | 304.00                  | 672.77                  | 406.86                  | 269.14                  | 675.99                  | 10.33                   | -11.47                  |
|                         | 9                       | QATAR                   | 120.82                  | 918.23                  | 1039.04                 | 147.15                  | 1313.88                 | 1461.04                 | 21.80                   | 43.09                   |
|                         | 10                      | SAUDI ARAB              | 903.41                  | 3027.55                 | 3930.95                 | 861.59                  | 3207.07                 | 4068.66                 | -4.63                   | 5.93                    |
|                         | 11                      | SYRIA                   | 15.92                   | 2.86                    | 18.78                   | 22.58                   | 6.61                    | 29.19                   | 41.83                   | 131.03                  |
|                         | 12                      | UAE                     | 5573.60                 | 3320.03                 | 8893.63                 | 6004.41                 | 4359.49                 | 10363.90                | 7.73                    | 31.31                   |
|                         | 13                      | YEMEN                   | 77.72                   | 0.68                    | 78.40                   | 91.90                   | 1.52                    | 93.42                   | 18.25                   | 123.33                  |
|                         | Total of West Asia      | Total of West Asia      | 8446.17                 | 11752.58                | 20198.73                | 9326.92                 | 15244.31                | 24571.23                | 10.43                   | 29.71                   |
| Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata | Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata |