Page 597 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - APRIL 2025 (Part 2)

4/7/25, 5:15 PM UAE's Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Costa Rica and Mauritius come into force

UAE's Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreements with Costa Rica and Mauritius come into

force

HE Al Zeyoudi: “These CEPAs, enhancing connectivity to centres of growth within Central America and Africa,
are a catalyst for deeper economic collaboration, unlocking a range of opportunities for our private sector and
driving forward our shared goals, from enhancing food security to accelerating clean energy adoption.”
Currently 27 deals concluded as part of the UAE’s CEPA program, unlocking access to over a quarter of the
world’s population.

Abu Dhabi, 2 nd April 2025: Two of the United Arab Emirates’ Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements
(CEPA) have come into force today, laying the foundation for increased trade and investment with the strategically
located and rapidly emerging economies of Costa Rica and Mauritius. Now in force, the UAE-Costa Rica and UAE-
Mauritius CEPAs will reduce tariffs on a wide range of goods, simplify customs procedures, and establish pathways for
investment into high-priority sectors both in the UAE and across the Central American and African markets.

The two deals mark the seventh and eighth of the UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements to come
into force, following the successful roll-out of CEPAs with India, Israel, Türkiye, Indonesia, Cambodia and Georgia since
the launch of the program in 2021. As the nation seeks to increase its foreign trade to AED4 trillion (US$1.1 trillion), it
currently has twelve further deals signed and awaiting ratification with markets around the world, consolidating its
status as a trade facilitator and global gateway for goods and services.

The UAE-Costa Rica CEPA, which was signed April 2024, builds on non-oil trade of more than US$82.6 million in 2024,
following substantial growth of 27.5% compared 2023. Under the CEPA, 99.8% of UAE exports to Costa Rica will
benefit from zero or reduced customs duties. The partnership will also help to facilitate strategic capital exchange,
adding to the UAE’s approximate US$673 million already invested in Central America.

Opening access to one of Africa’s most promising economies, the UAE-Mauritius CEPA is projected to boost the value
of non-oil bilateral trade from its current US$209.8 million to US$500 million within five years, including a fourfold
increase in UAE exports to Mauritius. Over 97% of UAE exports to Mauritius will benefit from immediate tariff
elimination or gradual tariff reduction over a maximum of 5 years under the CEPA.

His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said: “The implementation of our
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Costa Rica and Mauritius reflects a significant step forward in
our nation’s foreign trade program and its aim to establish stronger, more integrated trading relationships with the most
dynamic markets around the world. These CEPAs, enhancing connectivity to centres of growth in Central America and
Africa, are a catalyst for deeper economic collaboration, unlocking a range of opportunities for our private sector and
driving forward our shared goals, from enhancing food security to accelerating clean energy adoption.”

HE Al Zeyoudi highlighted the program’s contribution to record non-oil trade in 2024, which reached an all-time high of
US$817 billion, marking a 14.6% increase over 2023. The CEPA program currently has 27 concluded deals, expanding
access for UAE businesses to over a quarter of the world’s population.

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