Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, confirmed that the UAE has made foreign trade a central element of its economic strategy, recognising its crucial role in boosting industrial production, enhancing global competitiveness of its products and services, and spurring innovation.
He stated, “As a direct result of this belief, and guided by our leadership’s forward-thinking vision and dedication to global collaboration, our non-oil foreign trade continues to achieve new milestones.”
Dr. Al Zeyoudi highlighted that the UAE’s non-oil trade value has continued to rise, reaching an unprecedented AED 1.395T (AED 1,395B) in the first half of 2024 – marking the sixth consecutive half-year period of trade growth.
This new achievement represents an 11.2 percent increase in foreign trade compared to the first half of 2023 and reflects the success of the UAE’s economic diversification efforts. This is particularly evident in the growth of the UAE’s non-oil exports, which surged 25 percent compared to the same period in 2023, reaching AED 256.4B (AED 256.4B).
Dr. Al Zeyoudi pointed out that key sectors such as gold, silver, jewellery, oils, perfumes, aluminium, copper wires, and iron products have driven this impressive rise in non-oil exports, showcasing the country’s enhanced global competitiveness. He also noted that re-export activities have increased, reinforcing the UAE’s status as a global trade hub and reflecting international confidence in the country as a dependable trade partner and facilitator.
“Furthermore, our performance counters the global trend of slowing trade growth, which averaged only 1.5 percent in the first half of this year. This success highlights the resilience of the UAE economy, a result of our strong commitment to building robust public-private partnerships and fostering collaborative growth with emerging global economies,” he added.
Dr. Al Zeyoudi also emphasised the importance of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) programme in achieving these record results. He noted that bilateral trade with CEPA partners India and Türkiye grew by 15 and 9.8 percent respectively, now accounting for 11.7 percent of the UAE’s total foreign trade.
“As we continue to expand and finalise additional CEPA agreements, we expect further growth, steering us towards our ambitious goal of AED 4T (AED 4,000B) in non-oil foreign trade by 2031,” he said.
“As we look ahead, we will ensure that the UAE continues to harness the power of trade to drive sustainable, long-term economic growth and prosperity for our nation,” Dr. Al Zeyoudi concluded.