UAE’s non-oil trade rises 3% to Dh553.4b
GOVERNMENT KEEN TO REMOVE TARIFF AND NON-TARIFF BARRIERS
The UAE’s non-oil direct foreign trade reached Dh553.4 billion during the first half of this year, a 3 per cent increase from the Dh535.7 billion recorded in the same half last year.
According to data issued by the Federal Customs Authority (FCA), the UAE’s top trade partners in the first half of 2016 were Asia, Australia, and the Pacific, together accounting for 39 per cent (Dh211.3 billion) of total non-oil trade with the UAE.
They were followed by Europe, which accounted for 26 per cent (Dh139.9 billion) of trade with UAE, and the Middle East and North Africa, accounting for 17 per cent (Dh92.9 billion).
Non-oil trade with the GCC accounted for just 9 per cent (Dh51.6 billion) of the UAE’s total trade, the FCA said, with Saudi Arabia topping the list of GCC trade partners (it accounted for 36 per cent of UAE’s nonoil trade with the GCC).
The 3 per cent growth rate in trade comes amid forecasts that global trade rates in 2016 will be at “the slowest pace since the financial crisis,” according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Forecast
The WTO had lowered its forecast for growth in world trade to 1.7 per cent for 2016 down from the 2.8 per cent estimate the organisation made in April. The drop was driven by slower growth in global gross domestic product (GDP), and slower growth rates in countries that include China, Brazil, and North America.
The organisation also lowered its estimates for 2017, saying growth rates in trade will range between 1.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent — down from 3.6 per cent in previous forecasts.
In a statement yesterday, Ali Al Kaabi, chairman of the UAE’s FCA, said, “There is no doubt that the projected decline in international trade volume will affect the customs sector globally, particularly with regard to revenues, strategies, and future development plans.”
He added that countries should therefore create corrective development plans “so as to spare the global economy more tremors and ramifications.”
Al Kaabi said the UAE was keen to remove tariff and nontariff barriers that impede trade with other countries.
In terms of traded goods, raw gold and gold products topped the list of imported goods, accounting for 16 per cent (Dh55.6 billion) of total imports. It was followed by unmounted diamond (7 per cent), cars (6 per cent), and telephone handsets (5 per cent).