Dubai’s external trade is back to pre-Covid levels

Dubai on Saturday said its non-oil foreign trade registered a strong rebound during the first quarter of 2021 and growth exceeded the pre-Covid-19 period.

Latest data released by Dubai Customs showed that the emirate’s non-oil external trade surged 10 per cent to Dh354.4 billion during the January-March 2021 quarter compared to Dh323 billion in the same quarter last year.

Customs transactions also reached at 11.2 million transactions in the first half of 2021 staggeringly growing 53.4 per cent from 7.3 million transactions in the corresponding period in 2020. This reflects a versatile and resilient economy that is able to absorb severe shocks like that caused by the pandemic, according to theT.

It also reflects the vital role Dubai plays as a global trade hub and the resilience of its infrastructure and systems in dealing with tough challenges including Covid-19.

“Dubai is leading the global recovery way. The emirate’s non-oil external trade grew 10 per cent to Dh354.4b in first quarter of 2021 from Dh323 billion in the corresponding period in 2020,” said Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director-general of Dubai Customs.

Dubai Customs completed 11.16 million transactions through smart and electronic channels, representing 99.6 per cent of the total deals. Around 7.9 million customs transactions (70.8 per cent) were completed through smart channels, 3.2 million (28.8 per cent) through electronic channels, and only 41,800 (0.37 per cent) transactions were done manually.

Atik Munshi, managing partner at Enterprise House, said the customs tariffs in UAE are one of the lowest in the world; though this is enough to attract international trade, Dubai government is always on its toes to further improve and facilitate business transactions in the country.

“An increase of customs 53 per cent transaction in first half of 2021 compared to the previous year is a remarkable achievement, it is even more commendable that less than one per cent of the customs transactions have been done manually while all the rest are done through the smart or electronic channels,” Munshi told Khaleej Times on Saturday.

“Very few countries can boast of such. The extraordinary measures which the state has taken to curb and monitor the Covid 19 threat has given confidence to businesses and the increase in number of transactions is thus not a surprise,” he added.

Credit goes to leaders

Musabih paid rich tribute to the Dubai’s visionary leadership and said the Customs played its due role in promoting the emirate’s trade despite challenging environment globally.

“We work with all our energy to develop systems and programs that speed up the completion of transactions and the flow of foreign trade movement in the Emirate. This comes as part of our quest to realize the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to hit the Dh2 trillion milestone in external trade,” he said.

Musabih said trade sector in Dubai plays a pivotal role in supporting the economy. “We work hard in Dubai to ensure the continuous success of this sector, helping Dubai maintain its leading global position as a global hub for business and investment,” he said.

“We developed several programs and plans to facilitate trade including the recent ‘Electronic Confirmation of Exit/Entry’ initiative, which was launched in cooperation with DP World, UAE Region. The project eases the process of refund claims submission at Dubai Customs, saves time and cost, while further expediting the exports of all kinds of goods.

“Dubai Customs has launched 24 initiatives, which are dedicated to serve the visitors and exhibitors of EXPO2020.The initiatives are fully integrated with other government partners’ systems,” he added.

Declarations surge

Customs declarations also rose 66.6 per cent in the first 6 months of this year to reach 10 million declarations compared to six million declarations in the corresponding period in the previous year. This means more than 55,500 declarations a day in average.

“This big figure would not have been achieved without the outstanding technological structure in place including the advanced Smart Workspace, which helped complete a declaration in four minutes in average,” according to Dubai Customs.

The transactions also included 475,900 claim requests, 298,000 certificate and report requests, and 139,800 customs inspection date booking requests, and 110,600 business registration requests, according to the data.

Musabih said the World Customs Organisation sees Dubai as an example to be followed by other customs organisations.

‘Our recent hosting of the 5th WCO Global Authorised Economic Operator Conference indicates that the business world has much trust in the emirate as a leading hub for trade, and reflects the major role it plays in facilitating global trade, and the close and fruitful relationship between Dubai Customs and the World Customs Organization,” he said.

--- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com