The UAE entered into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Colombia, shortly after signing a similar deal with Costa Rica, another South American nation.
This CEPA with Colombia aims to bolster bilateral trade by reducing tariffs, eliminating trade barriers, and enhancing market access for both goods and services.
The newly established pact between the UAE and Colombia is expected to encourage investment and collaborative ventures in sectors such as energy, environmental conservation, hospitality, tourism, infrastructure, agriculture, and food production.
The UAE-Colombia CEPA comes in the wake of a notable surge in bilateral non-oil trade, which soared by 43 percent, reaching a record high of $53.1M in in 2023, more than doubling the total achieved in 2021.
Furthermore, the two countries have recently inked multiple cooperation agreements covering areas such as aviation, renewable energy, environmental protection, hydrogen utilization, travel facilitation, free trade zones, and artificial intelligence.
The agreement with Colombia is the latest addition to a series of similar agreements with nations including India, Israel, Indonesia, Turkey, and Cambodia.
Other countries with which the UAE has finalized CEPAs include Congo-Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Georgia, Kenya, Mauritius, and South Korea, all of which are playing a significant role in boosting the country’s non-oil foreign trade.
