Oman on Wednesday decided to fast-track the approval process for the registration of Indian pharmaceutical products that are already registered by the relevant authorities in the US, the UK and the EU. After the India-Oman Joint Commission meeting (JCM) here, both the sides decided to “comprehensively address all issues pertaining to tariff/non-tariff Barriers”. The meeting was co-chaired by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef, minister of commerce, industry and investment promotion of Oman.
Although India’s pharmaceutical exports to Oman stood at just $30 million until February last fiscal, industry executives have pointed out that there is a huge scope for scaling up such supplies if non-tariff barriers like the time-consuming registration process are removed. The two countries also agreed to expedite the implementation of all memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements under discussion, including on standards, India-Oman Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, India-Oman Bilateral Investment Treaty, Invest Oman and Invest India, and Rupay card acceptance in Oman, among others.Separately, another delegation, led by Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, the UAE’s minister of economy, is also on a visit to India from Wednesday.
The Oman minister’s visit comes days after India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the UAE entered into force on May 1. Sources have said Oman is keen on an FTA between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which it is a member. India-Oman trade jumped from $5.4 billion in FY21 to $9.94 billion in FY22, having witnessed an 82.6% rise.
