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4/7/25, 5:16 PM UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Costa Rica, Mauritius come into force – UAE Business and Travel Ins…

UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Agreements with Costa Rica, Mauritius come

into force

BY CONTENT ADMIN

ABU DHABI, 2nd April, 2025 (WAM) — 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 programme 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.

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 programme 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.”

Al Zeyoudi highlighted the programme’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 programme currently has 27 concluded
deals, expanding access for UAE businesses to over a quarter of the world’s population.

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.

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