Emirates News Agency – UAE, Pakistan discuss boosting trade, investment cooperation

DUBAI, 22nd March, 2023 (WAM) — Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, has highlighted the strong and long-standing relationship between the UAE and Pakistan, with both countries seeing continuous growth in the areas of trade and investment as leadership commitments strengthen connect.

During a meeting with Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Commerce Saeed Navid Kamal at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy in Dubai, they discussed ways to enhance trade and investment cooperation between the two countries in areas of mutual interest.

Economic officials from both countries attended the meeting. Al Zeyoudi noted that the UAE is Pakistan’s main investment partner in the region and fifth globally, according to data released by the end of 2021. He also mentioned that the UAE’s total investment in the Pakistani market has exceeded AED9 billion (US$2.5 billion), covering a wide range of economic and trade activities, including energy, telecommunications, information technology, financial services, insurance, construction, oil and natural gas sector.

Dr Al Zeyoudi said the ministerial meeting with the Pakistani delegation provided an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the UAE and Pakistan. This will lead to increased trade and investment exchanges, encourage their business communities to increase investment, and enable them to benefit from good investment prospects in each other’s markets. He also mentioned that the UAE is Pakistan’s main trading partner in the region in 2021.

Their non-oil foreign trade will reach AED 25.7 billion (US$ 7 billion) in 2022, a 30% increase from AED 19.8 billion (US$ 5.4 billion) in 2021. The UAE accounts for more than 40 percent of Pakistan’s trade with Arab countries, with non-UAE oil exports to Pakistan worth nearly AED4.8 billion ($1.3 billion) in 2022. In addition, UAE re-exports to Pakistan amounted to AED 10.6 billion (US$ 2.9 billion), an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period last year. 2021.