His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, affirmed that the UAE’s non-oil trade achieved a breakthrough during the first half of 2022 as it exceeded US$280 billion or AED1 trillion.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed said: "For the first time, the UAE non-oil foreign trade exceeds AED1 trillion in just half a year.. We reached one trillion and 53 billion dirhams, recording an increase of 17% over the previous half year.
"Our economic growth is progressive, our trade environment and infrastructure are the best and our economic approach is stable, fair and open to everyone... The growth of our economy will continue its strong pace in the coming year."
The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade recorded a new achievement in the first half of this year, amounting to US$286 billion for the first time in its history.
This number reflects a growth rate of 17% compared to the first half of 2021, and an increase of 25% and 35% compared to the same period in the years of 2020 and 2019 respectively.
These numbers reaffirm the success of the UAE’s strategic directions and visions in accelerating a full recovery after the overcome of the negative repercussions of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on international trade.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said that UAE is working nonstop to enhance its regional and global leadership and its position at the heart of the global trade networks by adopting commercial and economic openness and strengthening its infrastructure and legislative framework.
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Bin Touq added that this outcome marks the beginning of an unprecedented phase of economic development in the history of the country, and it is the result of the integrated efforts and initiatives announced by the UAE government as part of the "Projects of the 50".
Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said: "The unprecedented performance demonstrated by the non-oil foreign trade can be attributed to the forward-looking vision of the wise leadership, which aims to expand the UAE’s trade with the world and position it as a major contributor to the doubling of the national economy by 2030."
Al Zeyoudi also explained that this achievement came as a result of the forward-looking plans and various initiatives undertaken by the UAE to develop and diversify its exports had a significant impact in achieving this record growth in trade performance in just six months.
During the first half of 2022, the UAE’s non-oil exports, achieved about US$50 billion for the first time in its history. Recording a growth rate of 8% compared to the same period in 2021.
In terms of re-export, the UAE recorded unprecedented achievement during the first half of 2022. It approached the barrier of US$82 billion for the first time in its history.
Imports increased by approaching the barrier of US$158 billion during the first half of 2022, for the first time in its history as well. It recorded a growth of 19 percent compared to the same period in 2021.
These results reveal that national exports have achieved great growth and remarkable activity, which increased its contribution to the country’s non-oil trade.