The UAE's non-oil intra-trade with Turkey increased by 40% to $18.9 billion in 2022, thus making it among the top 10 trade partners of the emirates with a share of more than 3% of its non-oil foreign trade, reported Wam. 

 

Its direct foreign investments in Türkiye amounted to more than $5 billion, which puts the UAE among the top 15 countries investing in the country.

 

The two countries enjoy close trade and investment relations and its ties received a major boost with the recent signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

 

The bilateral relations between the two nations have witnessed successive positive developments during the past two years, culminating in the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last March, during a virtual summit between President HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, while speaking to Wam.

 

This agreement, which ushers in a new era of partnership and economic integration, stems from a solid base of close trade and investment relations between the two countries, he stated.

 

The CEPA with Türkiye is the fourth of its kind to be concluded by the UAE following similar agreements with India, Israel, and Indonesia.

 

The UAE-Türkiye CEPA aims to achieve mutual benefits for both countries and stimulate long-term, sustainable, and comprehensive economic growth by eliminating or reducing customs duties on 82% of goods and products, representing more than 93% of non-oil trade, he stated. 

 

Additionally, the agreement improves market access to Türkiye for exporters from the UAE, including major sectors such as construction, metals and their products, polymers, and other manufactured products.

 

It is expected that the agreement will contribute to increasing non-oil bilateral trade to $40 billion annually within five years, while also creating 25,000 new job opportunities by 2031, he added.

 

The total volume of Emirati investments in Türkiye reached about $7.8 billion at the end of 2021 in various sectors including financial services, real estate, transportation, renewable energy, ports and logistics.

 

Among the leading Emirati companies investing in Turkey are ADQ, Emirates NBD Bank, Emaar, International Holding Company (IHC), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mubadala.