UAE Cabinet plans to double re-exports and host global conservation event

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid approves two dozen initiatives aimed at increasing trade

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid chaired a Cabinet meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Wam

The UAE is set to host the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress in 2025.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, hosted a Cabinet meeting at Qasr Al Watan on Tuesday, where he approved plans to host the event.

He said the event in Abu Dhabi would be attended by 10,000 environmental experts and specialists from 160 countries.

“The UAE's economic journey will remain sustainable, preserve the environment and protect resources for future generations,” he said.

“We are starting to see the impact of the agreements on the country's foreign trade figures,” he said. He predicted that 2023 “will be the strongest economic year for the country in its history, God willing”.

Razan Al Mubarak of the UAE is the current president of the ICUN, a major global environmental organisation with 1,400 members representing 150 countries. It has a special status as a permanent observer member of the UN General Assembly.

It is best known publicly for maintaining the Red List of Threatened Species.

Ms Al Mubarak, a respected conservationist, is managing director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.

She was elected president in 2021, becoming only the second woman to lead the organisation in its 72-year history.

Plan to increase trade

Sheikh Mohammed said the Cabinet had also approved the national agenda for re-export development 2030, which includes 24 initiatives and programmes aimed at doubling re-exports from the UAE over the next seven years.

It also looks to achieve a 50% per cent increase in the added value of the UAE economy through re-exports in the next seven years by using the country's network of 50 commercial representative offices around the world.

"We will double the country’s re-export by developing specialised areas in co-operation with local governments, establishing the International Trade Links Centre, launching supportive programmes and increasing foreign investments in the service sector," Sheikh Mohammed said.

Latest data figures show UAE’s non-oil foreign trade reached a record Dh2.23 trillion ($607.1 billion) last year, as the Arab world’s second-largest economy accelerated its efforts to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons and boosts global economic partnerships.

Last year, re-exports reached 27.5 per cent of total non-oil trade, up from 26.9 per cent in 2015.

The UAE’s top commodities for re-export in 2022 included smartphones, diamonds, automotive parts and jewellery and gemstones.

The Cabinet meeting also reviewed the results of the work of the Higher Commission Free Trade Negotiations. Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE had signed comprehensive economic partnership agreements (Cepa) with four countries — India, Israel, Indonesia and Turkey — and is “currently negotiating with many others”.

The Cabinet meeting also “reviewed more than 19 initiatives aimed at making the country the capital of global talent”, Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter.

He said the UAE was second in the world in the index of senior specialised managers. The goal is to transfer the best experiences and refine our Emirati graduates “to be global in thinking”, he added.