Emirates, leader in exports from the Arab world in the first quarter of 2020
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads the ranking of exporting countries in the Arab world in the first three months of 2020, according to a report published by the UAE Council for Foreign Investors collected by Al-Ain. The document states that the value of exports stood at $16.2 billion, an increase of 7.6 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.
The Emirati government has launched a major bid to boost its export sector. As a result, the Abu Dhabi Export Office (ADEX) has launched a national campaign to help the country's business leaders use financial products and services to boost the expansion of UAE's export business. According to Gulf Today, ADEX's initiative has two further objectives: on the one hand, to rebuild the global export business and support the recovery of the world economy from the coronavirus crisis; and, on the other hand, to advance the national economic diversification, a strategy they have been working on for a long time. "The United Arab Emirates has been able to capitalize on the tourism and aviation sector with flag lines, which are among the best valued in the world, and therefore can imagine another future when the pandemic passes," they explain at the Monitor of the Orient (MEMO).
"The measure will help the UAE's export community to become more competitive in the global marketplace while safely expanding into international markets, where foreign buyers have limited access to traditional trade finance in the current economic environment of COVID-19," the UAE press agency, WAM, said.
Another measure recently announced along these lines is ADEX's partnership with the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), with the aim of "helping to boost exports from one of the major manufacturing centers in the region that provides a significant contribution to UAE's GDP," according to Arabia Industry. "As one of the first joint activities, ADEX and SCCI are preparing to organize a special online education workshop for all export companies in Sharjah. The workshop will help SCCI companies better understand how to access 550 million EDAs (USD 150 million) in ADEX funds allocated to directly support domestic exports in the non-oil sectors to expand their export business," the publication states.
In the ranking presented by the UAE Council, the second place is for Saudi Arabia with $8.7 billion, followed by Morocco with $7 billion, Egypt with $6.2 billion, Tunisia with $3.7 billion, Jordan with $1.9 billion, Bahrain with $1.5 billion, Kuwait with $1.3 billion, Lebanon with $914 million and finally Algeria with $400 million.
