IMEC प्रोजेक्ट में देरी क्यों हो रही ?

 Implementation of IMEC -

•  on the northern part of the corridor is going to move slowly until the West Asian conflict subsides, 
• while progress is faster on the eastern leg connecting the UAE and Indian ports

India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) 

क्या है इसका इतिहास और फायदे 

September 2023, the ambitious transcontinental India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) was announced on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi. 

The proposed corridor is expected to reduce the transit time between its eastern and western nodes by 40%, and costs by 30%, compared to transportation via the Suez Canal.

Progress on both ends

IMEC प्रोजेक्ट में देरी क्यों हो रही ? 

१ Over the past year, various challenges have delayed progress on the project. 

 २ अरब इजराइल सम्बन्ध ख़राब होना 

the normalisation of Arab-Israel relations, came to a sudden halt with the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine on October 7 last year. 

This crisis engulfed the whole of West Asia for the larger part of the year.

two key stakeholders, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, have not been able to make any progress on the project. 

Though it may be argued that the official relations between Arab countries and Israel won’t impact completion of work on the ground,

but  two governments, which will have to work closely with the Israeli establishment for the project. 

Therefore, implementation on the northern part of the corridor, which is mostly in West Asia, is going to move slowly until the ongoing escalation subsides.

On the eastern leg of the corridor connecting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indian ports

१ things are moving forward at a relatively fast pace. 

२ Post the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022, bilateral trade has grown from $43.30 billion in 2020-21 to $83.64 billion in 2023-24 (a staggering 93%). 

 ३ भारत्त  UAE  - diversification of the trade basket 

between the two countries, which is reflected in the growing non-oil trade. 

The non-oil trade between India and the UAE grew from $28.67 billion in 2020-21 to $57.81 billion in 2023-24. 

most of these commodities will be transported further west and north through the IMEC, thereby improving India’s export share in the larger region.

4  standardisation and facilitation of trade processes

two countries are also working on the standardisation and facilitation of trade processes. 

5 India and the UAE launched the Virtual Trade Corridor

This will be an integral part of the IMEC aimed at the reduction of administrative processes and time, reduction of logistics and transportation costs, and ease of doing trade. 

पूर्वी भाग और पश्चिमी भाग में प्रोग्रेस 

After more than a year since the IMEC was announced, we see an uncertain western part of the corridor trying to navigate through the conflict and a committed eastern part that is forging new linkages to ready itself for the new maritime order.

Other elements of the corridor

including clean energy export, undersea fiber-optic cables and pipelines, energy grid linkages, telecommunication lines, and clean energy technology cooperation, will have to wait till the situation in West Asia normalises. 

What India can do

भारत क्या कर सकता है ? 

India, especially, can use this time to 

• prepare its ports, 
• develop specific economic zones along the connectivity nodes, 
• improve its domestic logistics for seamless integration with the IMEC. 

There is a need to improve the digital footprint 

in the domestic logistics landscape, which will help reduce logistics time and costs, thereby making Indian exports more competitive. 

improve its integration in the global value chains

With IMEC, India aims to position itself as a global supply chain alternative. This can only happen if the country takes steps towards enhancing its manufacturing competitiveness.

Finally, it is time to push for the IMEC secretariat

 which can make the structure and working of the IMEC more organised. 

For starters, the secretariat can work on developing the framework for streamlining the cross-border trade processes and empirical evidence-based research on benefits accruing to participating countries. 

This would help countries in the neighbourhood of the corridor to better understand the project. This may end up generating interest, which could result in them joining it.

source the hindu