The UAE has been ranked among the top three global commodity trading hubs, according to Dubai Multi Commodities Centre’s (DMCC), latest Future of Trade 2020 report.

The Commodity Trade Index, CTI, assesses the role of 10 key trading hubs within global trade. The rankings are based on an analysis of 10 indicators across the three key areas of locational and trading partners, commodity endowments and institutional factors.

The 2020 Index sees the United States marginally overtake the UAE for the top spot scoring 61 per cent, with high scores for institutional and commodity endowments factors. Having led the index in 2018, the UAE is only one percentage point behind the US while having increased its overall score from 57 per cent to 60 per cent. The United Kingdom ranks third with an overall score of 46 per cent coming in strong on trading and institutional factors. Since 2018, the Netherlands saw the biggest fall, slipping from fourth to seventh place.

Feryal Ahmadi, Chief Operating Officer, DMCC, said, “The Commodity Trade Index published in the latest Future of Trade report offers important insight. The UAE’s favourable position reflects a carefully curated business ecosystem with significant investment in infrastructure and technology, and a priority assigned to the ease of doing business. To maintain the position, the UAE will continue to innovate products, services and regulations and set the industry standard.” The UAE receives the top score for commodity endowment factors of 74 per cent, largely due to its oil exports and natural resource rents as a share of GDP. The country comes fifth for institutional factors with 70 per cent, for its strength in contract enforcement and the flexibility to improve the ability of companies to trade across borders. In locational and trading partner factors, the UAE comes in sixth.

The rest of the top 10 ranking includes Switzerland at 44 per cent, Singapore at 42 per cent, Hong Kong at 41 per cent, the Netherlands at 40 per cent, China at 36 per cent, Nigeria at 30 per cent, and South Africa at 19 per cent.

The Future of Trade 2020 report includes two other indices. The Industry Digitalisation Index, launched in 2016, tracks businesses’ digitalisation progress across sectors and spans four separate functions of digitalisation in the processes of trade and general business activities. The Sustainability Index, launched this year, tracks the trade of environmentally sound technologies. More information on the indices is available at www.futureoftrade.com.

This is the third edition of the DMCC’s Future of Trade 2020, its flagship thought leadership report.

WAM