The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, Chairman of the National Initiative for Export Development Committee, Abdullah Al Saleh, confirmed that the initial indicators of the country's non-oil foreign trade during the first half of 2019 showed tangible growth, especially in the volume of non-oil exports, as well as re-exports, which is a positive indicator It reflects the efficiency of the country's commercial performance, in light of the current challenges facing international trade.

He explained that non-oil exports recorded a growth of 14%, according to preliminary figures for the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, and it is expected that in terms of value will reach 240 billion dirhams during 2019.

Al Saleh stressed that diversifying the imported markets for Emirati commodities is a priority on the agenda of the Ministry, working to implement it in cooperation with various partners from development agencies at the federal and local levels.

Al Saleh chaired the work of the seventh meeting of the National Initiative for Export Development, which was held in Dubai, to review the most important indicators and figures related to non-oil exports during the first half of 2019 and the initial expectations for non-oil foreign trade indicators for the past year, as well as discussing the outputs of the "trade promotion session" that It was held within the work of the annual meetings of the Government of the Emirates of 2019.

Commodity concentration

For his part, the assistant undersecretary for the foreign trade sector, Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Juma Al-Kait, reviewed the most important commodity and geographical concentration indicators for the first half of 2019.

He explained that the most important commodities that achieved growth are gold by 11%, oil oils, aluminum, cigarettes, jewelry, jewelry and copper wires, as the growth in all these items reached 22% compared to the first half of 2018. He revealed that the growth rate in total non-oil exports reached 14% With a value of 120 billion dirhams in the first half of 2019, compared to 105 billion dirhams in the first half of 2018.

Export promotion

In addition, the meeting witnessed a review of federal and local efforts to develop and promote national exports accomplished during 2019.

The CEO of Etihad Export Credit Corporation, Massimo Falcioni, made a presentation that included the achievements of the company during 2019 supported by statistics and figures that had a role in supporting the country's export movement through the conclusion of agreements and partnerships at the local and international levels, and providing insurance services to the export sectors in the country.

In turn, the Director of International Relations Department at the Federal Customs Authority, Saud Al-Aqroubi, pointed out that the "Certified Economic Operator" program, which provides many advantages to facilitate trade with commercial partners, has witnessed a significant development in attracting new members.

He pointed out that the UAE will host the "Fifth World Conference on the Economic Operator Program", in conjunction with the Expo 2020 Dubai.

In the same context, the Director of Exports Services Department in the Dubai Economy, Abdul Rahman Al Hosani, touched on the most important achievements of the department during the year 2019, which is represented in "launching the exporters portal", which is an information platform that provides all economic and commercial statistics for the main sectors in the Emirates, and many other varied services , Which will greatly contribute to enhancing opportunities for the commercial promotion of national products and services in the target markets.

The ministries, economic authorities and departments participating in the meeting reviewed a number of implemented initiatives that are being developed to enable exporters to compete in global markets.

Al-Saleh: Growth is a positive indicator that reflects the efficiency of the country's commercial performance in light of the current challenges facing international trade.