São Paulo – The United Arab Emirates’ trade in non-oil goods was up 3% in the first half of 2016 from the year-ago period, to 553.4 billion dirhams (USD 150.6 billion). The information is from the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) and was made public by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) this Monday (24).
The single top export/re-export product was raw gold and its products, at 28.1 billion dirhams (USD 7.6 billion); raw aluminum, at 11.2 billion dirhams (USD 3 billion); and precious stones jewelry at 9.5 billion dirhams (USD 2.5 billion).
Raw gold and its products were also the most imported items in the first half of this year, at 55.6 billion dirhams (USD 15.1 billion). Unmounted diamonds came second at 24 billion dirhams (USD 6.5 billion); automobiles ranked third at 21.8 billion dirhams (USD 5.9 billion).
Saudi Arabia was the UAE’s leading non-oil trade partner, followed by Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Direct non-oil trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries made up 9% of total trade with the rest of the world, amounting to 51.6 billion dirhams (USD 14 billion).
FCA chairman Ali Al Kaabi said the UAE is keen to facilitate global trade and remove tariff and non-tariff barriers impeding trade with countries of the world.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum