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UAE, Malaysia Sign Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

The agreement is designed to accelerate bilateral trade, promote private sector collaboration, and create new opportunities for investment in high-growth sectors. WAM
The agreement is designed to accelerate bilateral trade, promote private sector collaboration, and create new opportunities for investment in high-growth sectors. WAM
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UAE, Malaysia Sign Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

The agreement is designed to accelerate bilateral trade, promote private sector collaboration, and create new opportunities for investment in high-growth sectors. WAM
The agreement is designed to accelerate bilateral trade, promote private sector collaboration, and create new opportunities for investment in high-growth sectors. WAM

The United Arab Emirates and Malaysia have signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a ceremony witnessed by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Tuesday.

The agreement is designed to accelerate bilateral trade, promote private sector collaboration, and create new opportunities for investment in high-growth sectors, WAM said.

The CEPA was signed at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) by Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz.

Sheikh Mohamed emphasized the significance of the agreement in strengthening the economies of both nations, noting that it is a pivotal milestone in UAE-Malaysia relations.

He remarked that Malaysia, with its fast-growing economy and pro-trade policies, is a vital partner in Southeast Asia. He noted that the agreement aims to deepen cooperation in key sectors, reinforce supply chains, unlock investment potential, and open new doors for the two countries’ private sectors to thrive together.

The UAE-Malaysia CEPA will reduce or eliminate tariffs on a wide range of goods, streamline trade procedures, and enhance market access for service exports. Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s fourth-largest economy, is already one of the UAE’s top trading partners in the ASEAN region, with non-oil bilateral trade reaching $4.9 billion in 2023 and $4 billion in the first nine months of 2024. The UAE is also Malaysia’s second-largest trade partner in the Arab world, accounting for 32% of Malaysia’s trade with Arab nations.

The agreement is projected to solidify the UAE as a strategic hub for Malaysian exports to the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond while opening the ASEAN market to UAE investors and entrepreneurs.

The UAE’s CEPA program is a cornerstone of its efforts to drive non-oil foreign trade to AED 4 trillion ($1.1 trillion) by 2031 and foster international cooperation with strategic markets such as the ASEAN bloc, which boasts a GDP of more than $2.9 trillion and a population of 647 million people.

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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and British oil giant BP are set to finalize a deal by early February to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk and curb gas flaring, Iraqi authorities announced Wednesday.

The mega-project in northern Iraq will include plans to recover flared gas to boost the country's electricity production, they said.

Gas flaring refers to the polluting practice of burning off excess gas during oil drilling. It is cheaper than capturing the associated gas.

The Iraqi government and BP signed a new memorandum of understanding in London late Tuesday, as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and other senior ministers visit Britain to seal various trade and investment deals.

"The objective is to enhance production and achieve optimal targeted rates of oil and gas output," Sudani's office said in a statement.

Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told AFP after the new accord was signed that the project would increase the four oil fields' production to up to 500,000 barrels per day from about 350,000 bpd.

"The agreement commits both parties to sign a contract in the first week of February," he said.

Ghani noted the project will also target gas flaring.

Iraq has the third highest global rate of gas flaring, after Russia and Iran, having flared about 18 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, according to the World Bank.

The Iraqi government has made eliminating the practice one of its priorities, with plans to curb 80 percent of flared gas by 2026 and to eliminate releases by 2028.

"It's not just a question of investing and increasing oil production... but also gas exploitation. We can no longer tolerate gas flaring, whatever the quantity," Ghani added.

"We need this gas, which Iraq currently imports from neighboring Iran. The government is making serious efforts to put an end to these imports."

Iraq is ultra-dependent on Iranian gas, which covers almost a third of Iraq's energy needs.

However, Teheran regularly cuts off its supply, exacerbating the power shortages that punctuate the daily lives of 45 million Iraqis.

BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.

According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate.