The Ministry of Economy has announced that the UAE will soon sign comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPA) with several countries.
It will also sign trade preference agreements with the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in early 2023.
The ministry said that the new partnership agreements aim to enhance the role of international trade to double the size of the national economy by 2030.
The UAE development plans for the next 50 years are largely focused on trade.
By 2030, the country aims to double the size of its economy from 1.4 trillion dirhams ($381 billion) to 3 trillion dirhams ($816 billion) through greater trade openness.
Jumaa Muhammad Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary for International Trade Affairs, said that the countries currently negotiating to conclude CEPA are: Indonesia, Colombia, and Turkey, in addition to several countries with which the initial terms of agreement are being agreed upon.
The UAE is signing CEPA agreements with the aim of removing or reducing customs duties bilaterally with carefully selected markets of strategic importance regionally and globally.
Abdullah Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, pointed out that the trade preference system is the selection of a group of targeted goods, according to which the state obtains the advantage of reducing customs tariffs while exporting its national products to the markets of those countries.
He explained that the most important feature of this new system is to grant the UAE customs discounts on a wide and selected range of goods.
