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UAE, Costa Rica Sign Trade Deal

The UAE and Costa Rica signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a virtual ceremony. WAM
The UAE and Costa Rica signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a virtual ceremony. WAM
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UAE, Costa Rica Sign Trade Deal

The UAE and Costa Rica signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a virtual ceremony. WAM
The UAE and Costa Rica signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a virtual ceremony. WAM

The United Arab Emirates and Costa Rica have signed an agreement that will help improve bilateral trade and investment ties, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Thursday.

The Gulf and Central American countries signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a virtual ceremony, the president said in a post on social media platform X.

CEPAs signed by the UAE are broad free trade agreements that typically also include clauses covering investment and services.

“The agreement, which was signed by Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Manuel Tovar, Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, heralds a new era of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. It will also enhance trade flows, increase private-sector collaboration, and provide new opportunities for investment, particularly in priority sectors such as logistics, energy, aviation, tourism, and infrastructure development,” UAE's state news agency (WAM) said.

Bilateral non-oil trade between the two countries was worth $65 million in 2023, up 7% on the previous year, according to the report carried by WAM on the CEPA signing.

Sheikh Mohamed welcomed the agreement as a new chapter in UAE-Costa Rican economic relations.

He highlighted the importance of trade to international cooperation, particularly in the pursuit of secure, resilient supply chains and solutions to pressing global issues such as climate change and food security.

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IMF Appoints First Mission Chief to Syria in 14 Years

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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IMF Appoints First Mission Chief to Syria in 14 Years

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The International Monetary Fund has appointed Ron van Rooden as head of its mission to Syria, Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said in a written statement, making him the first country mission chief since war erupted there 14 years ago.
Bernieh said van Rooden's appointment came "following our request" and he shared a post on LinkedIn, showing himself shaking hands with van Rooden while attending the annual IMF-World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, D.C.
"This important appointment marks an important step and paves the way for constructive dialogue between the IMF and Syria, with the shared objective of advancing Syria's economic recovery and improving the well-being of the Syrian people," Bernieh wrote, according to Reuters.
The IMF press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A source familiar with the IMF's decisions on Syria confirmed van Rooden's appointment.
According to the IMF's website, Syria has had no transactions with the fund in the last 40 years. The last IMF mission trip to Syria was in late 2009, more than a year before protests against then-leader Bashar al-Assad erupted.
Assad's crackdown triggered a full-scale war that left much of the country destroyed before he was ousted in a lightning offensive by the opposition last December.
The new leaders have been keen to re-establish Syria's ties regionally and internationally, rebuild the country and secure the lifting of tough US sanctions to kickstart its economy.
Bernieh and Syria's central bank chief Abdelkader Husrieh are attending the annual spring meetings in Washington, the first time a high-level Syrian government team attends the meetings in at least two decades, and the first official visit by Syria's new authorities to the US since Assad's fall.
On Tuesday, the Saudi finance minister and the World Bank co-hosted a roundtable on Syria. Bernieh, in a separate LinkedIn post, described the roundtable as "very successful" and said there was "unprecedented" interest in supporting Syria's reconstruction.
A top official from the United Nations Development Program told Reuters last week the agency is planning to deliver $1.3 billion in support to Syria over the next three years.