The United Arab Emirates: looking forward to participating in the "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum
On September 14, www.chinaeconomy.com.cn, "We are looking forward to participating in the third the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in October this year." Abdullah bin Tug, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, said at the eighth the Belt and Road Forum in Hong Kong on September 13.
According to the UAE National News Agency, Minister Abdullah bin Tug stated in Hong Kong that China is the UAE's most important trading partner. Our goal is to double the trade volume with China in the next decade. According to data, the bilateral trade volume between China and Afghanistan in 2022 was 99.27 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 37.4%.
China has been the largest trading partner of the United Arab Emirates for many consecutive years, while the UAE is China's second largest trading partner, largest export market, and largest investment destination in the Arab region.
Minister Abdullah bin Tug invited the investment and business communities to fully utilize the advantages of the United Arab Emirates as a trade gateway to the Middle East and North Africa, opening the door to serving over 400 million consumers.
The United Arab Emirates has excellent cross-border logistics capabilities. As a key project for China and the Arab countries to jointly build the "the Belt and Road", Abu Dhabi Terminal in the United Arab Emirates has established direct links with 65 ports around the world. In 2022, the throughput will exceed 1 million TEUs for the first time, up 46% year on year.
Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, the United Arab Emirates has actively participated in it and regarded it as an important opportunity to achieve common prosperity. In 2015, the United Arab Emirates joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member. At the end of the same year, a $10 billion China UAE joint investment fund was established. In 2018, the United Arab Emirates and China signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building the "the Belt and Road".
The co construction of the "the Belt and Road" is an important support for the UAE's economic transformation. According to the National News Agency of the United Arab Emirates, in the first half of this year, the non oil trade volume of the United Arab Emirates and the "the Belt and Road" countries reached 305 billion US dollars, accounting for 90% of the total non oil trade volume of the United Arab Emirates in the same period, with a year-on-year growth of more than 13%.