TISIA between UAE nad Russia officially enters into force

The Trade in Services and Investment Agreement (TISIA) between the United Arab Emirates and the Russian Federation has officially entered into force, marking a significant advancement in bilateral economic relations.

The agreement will facilitate greater market access for services exports, strengthen protections for investors and create new opportunities for private sector collaboration across high-growth services sectors.

The TISIA was signed on 8 August 2025 in Moscow on the sidelines of the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to Russia, by Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, and  Maxim Reshetnikov, Russian Minister of Economic Development.

The agreement provides a dedicated bilateral framework focused specifically on services and investment, complementing the Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which covers trade in goods at the regional level. Together, the two agreements establish a comprehensive architecture governing trade in goods, services and investment between the UAE and Russia.

Al Zeyoudi said: “The entry into force of the UAE-Russia TISIA, alongside the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EAEU, represents the full activation of a comprehensive trade and investment framework that will unlock significant opportunities for businesses and investors in both nations. Russia is a major economic partner for the UAE, with bilateral non-oil trade reaching $20.4 billion in 2025, and this agreement will deepen collaboration across priority services sectors including fintech, healthcare, transport, logistics and professional services, driving long-term, sustainable growth and shared prosperity.”

The TISIA aims to bolster collaboration across various high-growth services sectors and by establishing clear rules and protections for services trade and cross-border investment, the agreement will reduce barriers to market entry, facilitate the movement of professionals and create a more predictable environment for businesses operating across both markets.

The bilateral trade relationship between the UAE and Russia has demonstrated exceptional growth in recent years. Non-oil trade reached $20.4 billion in 2025, a 77.7% increase compared to 2024 and nearly double the 2022 level of $10.8 billion. Russia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a bloc comprising five nations with a combined population of 200 million and a GDP approaching $5 trillion, with which the UAE signed an Economic Partnership Agreement in 2025.

The TISIA with Russia is part of the UAE’s broader foreign trade agenda, which aims to increase non-oil foreign trade to US$1.1 trillion by 2031. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) program is a key pillar of this agenda. Since its launch in September 2021, 38 agreements have been concluded with economies in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, with 18 in force. The CEPA program reflects the UAE’s commitment to open, rules-based trade to drive economic growth, diversification and new opportunities for businesses in high-growth markets worldwide.

In April this year, the UAE has become one of the world’s top 10 exporting countries, according to the latest figures from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) “World Trade Prospects and Statistics” report. This achievement reflects the UAE’s position as a vital hub on international supply chains and its growing contribution to the wider global economy.

The WTO report noted that the UAE’s goods and services trade has risen significantly in recent years, increasing from $949 billion (Dhs3.5 trillion) in 2021 to $1.637 trillion (Dhs6.014 trillion) in 2025.

The value of the UAE’s trade in goods reached $1.33 trillion (Dhs4.9 trillion), with exports representing 53 percent of the total goods trade with the world. Meanwhile, services trade amounted to Dhs1.14 trillion, of which 61.4 per cent were service exports to global markets.

The result was a trade surplus of Dhs584.1 billion in 2025, compared to Dhs492.3 billion in 2024, a year-on-year growth of 19 per cent. These figures reflect the vital role the UAE plays in global trade, ranking 9th in the world in goods exports and 13th in goods imports during 2025.

The report also highlighted what it described as the exceptional growth in the UAE’s foreign trade in services, which reached Dhs1.14 trillion in 2025 – exceeding the Dhs1 trillion barrier for the first time. This reflects the UAE’s proactive economic and trade policies that have opened the nation to the world, making the UAE a role model in leadership, competitiveness, and openness.

WAM