ALBAWABA — The United Arab Emirates and Türkiye signed a comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement on Friday, opening the door to novel routes to new markets.
"The signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with my friend @RTErdogan strengthens the partnership between the UAE & Türkiye," Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Emirati president said on Twitter.
The pact "builds on our longstanding ties to deliver further growth, opportunity & stability for our countries & our people," Sheikh Mohamed tweeted.
"The agreement marks a new era in our economic and commercial relations," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, describing the deal as "historical".
"The progress in the Türkiye–U.A.E. relations is a matter of pride for us," Erdogan added.
Türkiye was the U.A.E.’s sixth-largest trading partner in 2022, with non-oil foreign trade reaching $18.9 billion last year, up bilateral40 percent from 2021 and 112 percent from 2020, Thani Al Zeyoudi, U.A.E. minister of state for foreign trade, said.
The agreement will see eliminated or reduced customs duties on 83 percent of goods in the two countries, accounting for more than 93 percent of non-oil trade, the minster said.
The CEPA will help create a new market for the two countries in sectors such as food security, agriculture, financial technology, telecommunications, logistics, renewable energy, and real estate.
"It is expected that the agreement will contribute to increasing non-oil bilateral trade to $40 billion annually within five years, while also creating 25,000 new job opportunities in the U.A.E. by 2031," the Emirates News Agency reported.
According to Al Zeyoudi, the CEPA is expected to be ratified before the start of the third quarter of 2023.
