The UAE is playing an increasingly significant role in international trade despite the global crisis, said Minister of Foreign Trade Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi.
“The UAE ranks among the top 30 trading economies in the world and ranks first among Arab economies,” she said in an interview with Wam.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade has taken the lead in considering potential impacts, opportunities and challenges in the economic crisis and has considered scenarios to safeguard the integrity of the national economy and foreign trade as well as to attenuate the impacts of the crisis on the UAE trade and industrial sectors.
Sheikha Lubna said: “The Ministry of Foreign Trade adds to the UAE’s efforts to boost development and strengthen the competitive advantage of the national economy both regionally and globally.
“This is also congruent with the UAE’s ambitions to place itself on the global map,” she said.
Through building a regional economic model that is based on reforms, maximising the use of economic resources, non-oil in particular, shifting towards a knowledge-based economy, the UAE looks forward to achieving a place among the world’s top economies.
The Ministry’s set of policies, measures and plans will be going hand-in-hand with those of other local and federal ministries and entities for the ultimate goal of adopting advanced reforms that would contribute to the enhancing of competitiveness of exports, re-exports as well as to give space for creative ideas to globally promote goods and services.
UAE foreign trade is a crucial factor in serving the economic and trade interests of the country including the direct overseeing of negotiations with the World Trade Organization and economic blocs and the search for ways to tackle the deficit in trade with some countries.
Recognising the importance of positive interaction with the new concepts and mechanisms of foreign trade, the ministry will be making well-informed steps towards exploring new horizons on the way to build new pattern for relations between the UAE business community and its counterparts in other parts of the world. This could well be done through bilateral trade relations or the multi-lateral world trade regime, in addition to increased openness to the economies of developed nations and the adoption of a clear and well-defined foreign trade policy.
The UAE has achieved a leading position in global and regional trade, thanks to the measures taken over the past years to boost sustainable development, openness to and integration with the global economy, minimising bureaucracy as well as preparing the friendly legislative and regulatory environment, said Sheikha Lubna, adding: “We recognise that it is imperative to continuously work and make efforts to preserve the country’s leading position in global and regional trade as well as continue to high growth rate through overcoming the challenges that are posed by globalisation in fields such as competitiveness, production efficiency.”
Sheikha Lubna said the UAE foreign trade posted a surge of 33 per cent in 2007 to Dh552.9 billion from Dh415.9bn, representing 75.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Dh729.7bn and 118.2 per cent excluding oil sector Dh467.9bn.
“Exports and re-exports constituted 22.6 per cent of the GDP and grew by 31.9 per cent from Dh124.8bn to Dh164.6bn in 2007. Imports of commodities and services including free zones rose from Dh414.7bn in 2006 to Dh545.3bn in 2007, a growth of 31.5 per cent,” said the Minister of Foreign Trade.
She added that these figures showed a remarkable increase in the foreign trade which will even see further boost when 2008 figures would be released.
“The UAE has adopted a package of economic, legislative and administrative programmes have enabled the UAE to build a prominent place at the world trade order,” she said. The UAE, according to her, has signed a series of bilateral trade pacts with key trade partners to boost UAE exports to international markets.
She said that scores of economic, political, trade and geographical factors had combined with free market economy policy and flexible economic and commercial legislations to assist the UAE make marked achievements, therefore carving the third slot worldwide in terms of re-exports.
“Focused attention on trade has bolstered the UAE”s drive to reduce dependence on oil revenues. Non-oil sectors are now contributing over 64 per cent to the GDP,” she said.
