The India–Oman Free Trade Agreement that comes into force from June 1 is a defining milestone in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to create global pathways to prosperity for India’s students, artisans, women, farmers, fishermen and MSMEs by opening new markets and accelerating job creation.

India has a deep economic and people-to-people connect with Oman, home to nearly 7 lakh Indians, including merchant families whose roots there go back 200–300 years. Indian remittances from Oman amount to about $2 billion annually, while more than 6,000 Indian enterprises operate there.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries significantly deepens economic and strategic ties. It immediately gives 100 percent duty-free market access in Oman to 98 per cent of tariff lines covering 99.38 per cent of exports. This marks a dramatic improvement over the pre-CEPA system that allowed only 15.3 per cent of India’s exports enter Oman at zero duty. Goods from India that currently face a 5 per cent import duty in Oman, worth about $3.64 billion in exports, will become more competitive.

For India’s MSMEs, the agreement could be transformative asmany sectors that gain from CEPA are dominated by small businesses. Iron and steel, textiles, leather, auto components and industrial equipment are some of the sectors where MSMEs are expected to get large international orders, which will boost production, investment and hiring.

In an era of growing global instability, the CEPA offers Indian exporters a crucial opportunity to diversify........

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