Blitz Bureau
The UAE achieved a major milestone as it hit an alltime high of Dh1.395 trillion in non-oil foreign trade. The announcement came from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The Ruler confirmed the achievement under the leadership of the country’s President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, has affirmed that the UAE has placed foreign trade at the centre of its economic agenda, recognising its pivotal role in driving industrial output, enhancing the global competitiveness of its products and services, as well as catalysing innovation, according to WAM.
He said, “As a direct result of this conviction, and guided by our leadership’s forward-thinking vision and commitment to global collaboration, our non-oil foreign trade continues to set new milestones.”
Al Zeyoudi said that the value of the UAE’s non-oil trade has remained on a robust growth trajectory, reaching an all-time high of AED1.395 trillion in the first half of 2024 – the sixth consecutive half-year period of foreign trade growth.
This new milestone marks an 11.2 per cent increase in foreign trade compared to H1 in 2023, and underscores the success of the UAE’s economic diversification strategies, he said, adding that this is best embodied by the increase of the UAE’s non-oil exports, which grew 25 percent compared to H1 2023 to reach AED256.4 billion.
He emphasised that key sectors, including gold, silver, jewellery, oils, perfumes, aluminium, copper wires, and iron products, have led this impressive surge in non-oil exports, demonstrating the country’s enhanced global competitiveness. “Our re-export operations also increased, highlighting our status as a global trade hub and reflecting international confidence in the UAE as a reliable trade partner and facilitator,” he said.
“Moreover, our performance defies the global trend of slowing trade growth, which averaged just 1.5 percent in the first half of this year. This achievement shows the UAE economy’s resilience, which is the result of our steadfast commitment to building strong, productive public-private partnerships as well as fostering collaborative growth with emerging global economies,” he added.
“Importantly, it’s clear that our Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) programme is playing a central role in achieving these record results, Al Zeyoudi stated.
