UAE poised to grow into bigger economic power under president – News

During his first year in office, Sheikh Mohamed focused on increasing the UAE’s role, strengthening human capital, signing CEPA and more

When UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said a few years ago that the country would celebrate when the last barrel of oil was shipped out, he meant it.

In his first year as the country’s president, Sheikh Mohamed focused on enhancing the UAE’s role in different spheres of life, strengthening its human capital, signing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to diversify the country’s economy from petrodollars, and Improve food safety and security in the country to make the country an economic powerhouse not only in the region but globally.

In order for citizens to join the workforce, especially in leadership positions, companies with 50 employees must increase the number of Emiratis in their skilled workforce by 1% every six months. This will accelerate the country’s transformation towards human capital, creating more opportunities for citizens in high-level public and private sector leadership, while improving the country’s ranking in the Global Human Capital Index.

In the past year, under the leadership of His Highness, another major economic innovation step was the launch of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with key partner countries to further facilitate and facilitate trade. So far, the UAE has struck deals with India, Indonesia, Israel and Türkiye.

“The signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with my friend Tayyip Erdogan strengthens the partnership between the UAE and Turkey. The UAE-Turkey CEPA builds on our longstanding relationship to bring further growth, opportunities for our country and people and stability,” Sheikh Mohammed said at the signing of CEPA with Turkey.

Importantly, the country has already borne the fruit of its first CEPA agreement with India, one of the UAE’s largest trading partners.

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the UAE-India CEPA, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, revealed that bilateral non-oil trade had grown by 7 percent to $45.5 billion in 11 months since CEPA came into effect on May 1, 2022.

This reflects that the country’s vision of reducing its dependence on oil and increasing the contribution of the non-oil sector to GDP is bearing fruit thanks to the signing of CEPA.

Additionally, the leaders of the UAE, the US, India and Israel have launched a new initiative – also known as I2U2 – to strengthen economic cooperation.

The UAE President also emphasized financial inclusion so that all segments of society can benefit from the opportunities that economic growth brings.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Sheikh Mohamed said: “The UAE looks forward to a constructive dialogue to support sustainable growth and common progress for all countries and their peoples.”

With the UAE’s increasingly prominent and important role in the global economic world, the UAE has won the bid to host the prestigious World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in 2024.

“We look forward to promoting constructive dialogue among WTO countries and strengthening international cooperation for a sustainable economic future,” Sheikh Mohammed said after the UAE was announced as the host country for the prestigious meeting.

Not only at the federal level, Abu Dhabi’s local economy has emerged as the fastest growing economy in the MENA region with a growth rate of 9.3% in 2022 and a GDP of more than AED1.1 trillion, of which the non-oil sector contributes half of it.

With all indicators rising and global institutions expecting strong GDP growth, the UAE is poised to emerge on the global economic stage and strengthen its position as a major economic power.