Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, touted his country’s non-oil foreign trade Wednesday. It set a record of 1.239 trillion United Arab Emirates Dirhams (AED), or $340 billion, in the first six months of this year.
He tweeted, “In a new economic achievement for the UAE, our non-oil foreign trade set a new record, reaching a trillion and 239 billion dirhams in just six months this year.”
Sheikh Mohammed went on, “Our non-oil exports also continued to grow significantly, exceeding in 6 months what we were achieving in a full year only five years ago.” He added that the UAE’s non-oil exports with the country’s top 10 global trade partners increased by 22% this year. China is the UAE’s biggest trading partner, followed by India, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
He added that trade with Turkey increased by 87% in one year, citing the "balanced, active and positive foreign policies” led by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. After several years of cool relations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Abu Dhabi in July and signed an economic partnership. Business deals worth $50 billion were also made during the trip.
