UAE explores trade opportunities with Spain, Tanzania

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, held a meeting with Xiana Mendez, Secretary of State for Trade at the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism to explore the strengthening of trade and economic cooperation. Emphasising the historic relations shared by the UAE and Spain, Al Zeyoudi pointed out that both leaderships remain equally keen to enhance existing cooperation to support their respective economic development visions.

Al Zeyoudi said: “The bilateral trade figures demonstrate the rapid growth of the UAE-Spain economic relations. Our non-oil trade exchanges exceeded $2.6 billion in 2022. The UAE’s non-oil exports to Spain totalled $360 million last year while re-exports amounted to $181 million.”

He added: “We are keen to strengthen our economic and trade partnership with Spain, especially since Spain is the UAE’s fifth largest European trade partner as of 2022. It accounted for more than 5 per cent of our total non-oil trade with EU. Spain has further become the country’s third biggest European partner in 2022 as it received 8 per cent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports to the EU countries. In addition, the Spanish market is a key global market that enjoys special attention from the UAE’s business community. The UAE’s total investments in Spain reached approximately $3.8 billion by the end of 2021 while Spanish FDI in the UAE totaled $72 million by the end 2020.”

The meeting explored means to enhance existing economic and trade relations between the two countries and diversify them in sectors of common interest. In addition, both parties agreed to support investment exchanges in the fields of entrepreneurship, tourism, innovation, technology, food security, real estate, logistics, mining, transformative industries, renewable energy and other future economy sectors that support the sustainable development of both economies. The means to create new mechanisms that facilitate the access of business communities to promising opportunities in both markets were also discussed.

Al Zeyoudi also met Dr. Ashatu Kijaji, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Tanzania, to discuss the strengthening of trade and investment relations between the two countries. The meeting took place during a Tanzanian delegation’s recent visit to the UAE.

The meeting discussed prospects for cooperation in areas of shared interest and the means to generate more opportunities for both business communities. Al Zeyoudi emphasized that the record growth in the UAE-Tanzania non-oil trade serves as a solid foundation for achieving greater economic integration between the two countries, especially in the areas of trade, investment, logistics, travel, tourism and mining among others.

“Tanzania is a key trading partner of the UAE as our non-oil trade exchanges continue to grow. We look forward to further strengthening our existing cooperation and expanding the scope of trade and investment relations to broader levels,” he said.

The UAE-Tanzania economic relations have witnessed significant growth in recent years. The non-oil trade exchange between the two countries reached $2.5 billion in 2022 with a 11 per cent growth compared to that of 2021. In 2022, Tanzania became the UAE's fourth largest trading partner among non-Arab African countries, accounting for 7.2 per cent of the country's total non-oil exports

• Business