UAE rising non-oil trade with G20 countries

The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) non-oil trade with G20 economies is on a sharp rise. It touched $341 billion in 2022, according to Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade. He told Emirates News Agency (WAM) in New Delhi where he is representing the UAE at the G20 summit starting on Saturday. “In 2022, non-oil trade between the two sides hit $341 billion, which is 55 per cent of the UAE’s non-oil trade. This represents a 21 per cent increase from 2021, and 56 per cent and 34 per cent up from 2020 and 2019 respectively.”

He is of the view that this shows that the UAE is happy to be in partnership with G20 countries in a rules-based trade. He said, “These strong trade and investment relations are a testament to the UAE’s commitment to open and free trade. The UAE is a major player in the global economy, and it is working to strengthen its ties with other countries round the world.” It is also interesting that the UAE’s investments in G20 countries of $215 billion is 92.5 per cent of the country’s worldwide investment. And G20 investments in UAE are significant as well with $74.2 billion, accounting for 43 per cent of “all foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UAE”, according to the minister.

The trade figures are important because the period refers to the pre-Covid, Covid and post-Covid years of 2019, 2021 and 2022, and the rise has been sharp. Though the global economic situation has been quite tumultuous in many countries, the UAE is one of the major emerging market economies (EMEs) which has clocked impressive trade growth rates. The situation is not as grim as it looked for many months now.

It is the positive performance of countries like the UAE that shows the way out of the gloomy prospect of the global situation. The UAE is also leading in giving aid to many countries in distress, and it is looking at steps to shape policy keeping in mind the challenges of climate change. It is not a reckless growth which will benefit only UAE at the cost of other countries. It shows that it is possible to pursue a policy of economic growth that is sensitive to environmental concerns and to needs of the people in poorer regions.

The usual dichotomy has been that it has to be either development or environment, or growth which cannot cater to the distress of other countries. The UAE’s performance shows that it is possible to build economic bridges of a positive kind with a group of countries with strong growth like the EMEs of G20, and from this there could be a spin-off for economic assistance to people and countries that need it most.

The UAE leadership has made it clear that the climate change challenge cannot be handled by individual countries and all the countries have to join the effort. And this would involve extending assistance to poor countries to make the transition to green ways of growing an economy.

Many of the developed countries, especially in the West, have not been able to get over their thinking that they cannot pursue economic growth and at the same be sensitive to climate concerns. The UAE is in the happy place where it is able to pursue the goals of growth and equity, where it invests abroad and it allows for investment at home, where it exports vigorously and keeps the imports open. It lives up to the principle of “open and fair trade”. More countries would have to follow the two-way trade and investment path if the world economy is to recover from the interruption caused by the pandemic.