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11/12/24, 12:02 PM UAE and Australia sign Cepa deal to boost trade to $15bn by 2032 | The National
UAE were worth $4.7 billion last year and mainly consisted of petroleum products and
urea.
Australia will export more than 99 per cent of its products to the UAE without tariffs
under the deal. This will result in estimated savings of $135 million in the first year and
$160 million a year once the agreement is fully introduced, Mr Farrell said in September
when Cepa talks were concluded.
As of last year, the two countries have also committed a combined $14 billion to each
other’s economies, with more than 300 Australian businesses operating in the UAE in
construction, financial services, agriculture and education.
Last year, UAE investment in Australia was estimated at close to $12.7 billion according
to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
The UAE has been strengthening its trade ties with countries around the globe to boost
non-oil foreign trade.
Last month, the UAE signed the agreement with Jordan, its first with a fellow Arab
country to deepen trade ties between the countries. In September, the Emirates concluded
Cepa talks with New Zealand and has also revealed plans to hold negotiations with Japan
to finalise a pact.
The UAE aims to sign 26 Cepas, with deals reached already with India, Turkey, Indonesia,
Cambodia, Georgia, South Korea, Chile and Mauritius. Talks are under way with other
countries, including the Philippines. Cepas are expected to add about 2.6 per cent to the
UAE's economy by 2030, Dr Al Zeyoudi said previously.
In the first half of this year, the country’s non-oil foreign trade hit a record Dh1.4 trillion
($381.21 billion), up 11.2 per cent on an annual basis amid a 25 per cent rise in non-oil
exports on new Cepas, the UAE Government Media Office said in August. The country, as
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