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Dubai's non-oil foreign trade hits Dh319b in Q1

Dubai has achieved exponential growth in the total volume of non-oil foreign trade commodities during the first quarter of 2016.
According to statistics released by Dubai Customs, non-oil foreign trade of Dubai reached at Dh319 billion in first quarter of 2016. Imports contributed Dh196 billion in total non-oil foreign trade while exports and re-exports shared Dh36 billion and Dh87 billion, respectively.
The latest data indicates that the volume of traded goods jumped up 17 per cent, compared to the same period last year, to reach 24 million tonnes. The significant growth was the result of re-export commodities soaring 35 per cent to 4.1 million tonnes, export goods rising by 26 per cent to 4.58 million tonnes, and import goods going up 11 per cent to 15.25 million tonnes.
"The safe-haven sector of foreign trade in the emirate of Dubai is gaining greater momentum at the present stage of the UAE's economic development, where it is moving ahead into the post-oil phase that was launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to boost the nation's diversified economy and ensure its sustainability," said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation. Dubai continued to show its resilience to global growth challenges and increasing market fluctuations due to the protracted slowdown in virtually all key economies of the world. The growth in the volume of traded commodities enhanced the momentum of Dubai's non-oil foreign trade, which touched ED319 billion at the end of March 2016.
Mobile phones topped the list of high-value commodities in Dubai's foreign trade in the first three months of this year with Dh43 billion worth of trade. Next on the list was gold with Dh32 billion worth of trade, followed by diamonds (Dh23 billion), and jewellery (Dh18 billion). Dubai's foreign trade in automobiles in the first quarter of 2016 stood at Dh15 billion.
Meanwhile, Dubai further diversified its foreign trade markets, while maintaining strong relationships with its largest global trading partners. China topped Dubai's trading partners with trade worth Dh39 billion in January-March 2016 quarter. India came second with Dh24 billion worth of trade, followed by USA at third place with Dh22 billion. Saudi Arabia remained Dubai's top GCC and Arab trading partner, and fourth largest globally, with a total value of Dh14 billion.
"A key factor in our national economic diversification, Dubai's foreign trade sector puts the UAE solidly on the world trade map, especially as Dubai has positioned itself among the leading global markets for smart information technology and broadened its global trading partner network to include major players in the world economy," Bin Sulayem said.
He affirmed that the growth prospects of the foreign trade sector are now even more promising, given the UAE's and Dubai's rapid growth as knowledge economies, propelled by the ambitious goals of UAE Vision 2021 and Dubai Plan 2021, and the hosting of mega events like Expo 2020.
Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, reaffirmed that Dubai Customs is committed to taking the national economy to the next stage by supporting the trading community in Dubai with advanced, automated trade facilitation services and streamlined processes.
- business@khaleejtimes.com