Abu Dhabi: Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade said that the UAE and Turkey enjoy close trade and investment relations, thanks to the common will of their leadership to promote their cooperation to a broader level of partnership.
Speaking to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the minister said that the bilateral relations between the two nations have witnessed successive positive developments during the past two years, culminating in the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last March, during a virtual summit between President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He added that this agreement, which ushers in a new era of partnership and economic integration, stems from a solid base of close trade and investment relations between the two countries, as non-oil intra-trade increased by 40% to $18.9 billion in 2022, making Turkey among the top 10 trade partners of the Emirates with a share of more than 3% of the UAE's non-oil foreign trade. The UAE's direct foreign investments in Turkey amounted to more than $5 billion, which puts the UAE among the top 15 countries investing in Turkey.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Turkey is the fourth of its kind to be concluded by the UAE as part of its global economic agreements programme, following similar agreements with India, Israel, and Indonesia.
The UAE-Turkey CEPA aims to achieve mutual benefits for both countries and stimulate long-term, sustainable, and comprehensive economic growth by eliminating or reducing customs duties on 82% of goods and products, representing more than 93% of non-oil trade. Additionally, the agreement improves market access to Turkey for exporters from the UAE, including major sectors such as construction, metals and their products, polymers, and other manufactured products.
It is expected that the agreement will contribute to increasing non-oil bilateral trade to $40 billion annually within five years, while also creating 25,000 new job opportunities by 2031.
The longstanding ties between the two countries are based on the spirit of mutual understanding and respect, and are aimed at enhancing collaboration in various fields including the economic, climate, cultural, and youth-empowerment sectors.
The total volume of Emirati investments in Turkey reached about $7.8 billion at the end of 2021 in various sectors including financial services, real estate, transportation, renewable energy, ports and logistics.
Among the leading Emirati companies investing in Turkey are ADQ, Emirates NBD Bank, Emaar, International Holding Company (IHC), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mubadala.
