Dubai Chamber: The continent is still not fully explored in terms of trade and investment opportunities

17.6 billion dirhams of Dubai's imports from Latin America in 9 months

Dubai imports pearls, precious metals, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment from Latin America.

archival

A recent analysis of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce on trends in trade between Dubai and Latin America revealed that Dubai’s imports from Latin American countries amounted to about 22 billion dirhams between 2018 and 2020, and about 17.6 billion dirhams during the first nine months of 2021, while the emirate’s exports to These countries are about 2.5 billion dirhams, which is more than the total annual exports recorded in previous years.

business partners

Brazil and Mexico are Dubai's largest trading partners in Latin America, where the analysis showed that the annual average of Dubai's trade in goods with the two countries between 2015 and 2020 amounted to 6.6 billion dirhams and 4.4 billion dollars, respectively, pointing to other major trading partners such as Peru. Venezuela, Suriname, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

Diversity of exports

The analysis indicated the diversity of Dubai's main exports to Latin American countries. Between 2015 and 2020, the emirate exported base metals with a value of approximately 205 million dirhams, followed by plastics with 194 million dirhams, food, drinks and tobacco with 172 million dirhams, and machinery and equipment with 80 million dirhams.

Re-export

In addition, Dubai is used as a center for re-exports of goods from other regions, such as Africa and Asia, including transport equipment worth an average of 389 million dirhams each year, machinery and equipment at 367 million dirhams, and chemical products worth 209 million dirhams.

export destinations

In terms of export destinations, between 2015 and 2020, Dubai exported and re-exported 392 million dirhams to Brazil each year, equivalent to 18% of the emirate's total exports and re-exports to the countries of the continent.

As for the other destinations, they were Chile (275 million dirhams per year on average), Mexico (223 million dirhams), Colombia (308 million dirhams), and Argentina (161 million dirhams).

Dubai also exported goods to Panama in Central America worth 121 million dirhams annually, on average, and to Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean about 73 million dirhams.

net importer

The analysis pointed out that Dubai is a net importer from Latin America, as it imported between 2015 and 2020 pearls, precious metals, foodstuffs, drinks, machinery and equipment, vegetable products, animal products, and transportation equipment.

Brazil is the largest source of Dubai's imports from Latin America, of food and animal products, while Mexico is a source of the emirate's imports of machinery and transport equipment, while countries such as Peru and Bolivia are a major supplier of pearls and precious metals.

commercial bridge

According to the analysis of the «Dubai Chamber», Dubai has historically been a bridge for trade between Asia, Europe and Africa.

However, Latin America is still not fully explored in terms of its vast potential in trade and investment opportunities.

These opportunities are particularly concentrated in the food sector, as the continent is a major producer of foodstuffs, and Dubai has an integrated strategy for food security for the near future.

Latin America can benefit from most of the innovative technologies in the field of agriculture, which were developed in Dubai, and there are great investment opportunities in renewable energy and the digital economy, which are areas that Dubai is characterized by, and can make significant contributions to the countries of the continent.

Economic importance

The analysis pointed out that with Dubai recovering from the effects of the “Covid-19” pandemic, the organization of “Expo 2020 Dubai” had a positive impact on many economic sectors, such as retail trade and tourism, during the last months of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

The exhibition also represented a platform for presenting potential trade opportunities, pointing to the importance of Latin America, whose economies amount to five trillion dollars, and a population of more than 600 million people, in addition to good macroeconomic indicators, such as the low unemployment rate, the competitive exchange rates of its currencies, and the growth of domestic product. aggregate in the long term, and expectations of an increase in its exports and imports in the near future.

Gross Domestic Product of Latin American Countries

According to the latest data of the International Monetary Fund, the gross domestic product of Latin American countries amounted to 5.0 trillion dollars in 2021, or 5.3% of the world economy.

This continent is led by Brazil and Mexico, with GDPs each of $1.6 trillion and $1.3 trillion, respectively.

They are followed by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

The countries of the continent are also an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. According to data from UNCTAD, the stock of these investments in Latin America amounted to $2.2 trillion in 2020, including $1.4 trillion in South America, $757 billion in Central America, and 72 billion dollars in the Caribbean.

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