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Dubai reinforces status as trade hub with diversification bid

Xinhua, April 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

Trade performance of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has shown steady and sustainable growth in the past five years, said the Dubai Customs on Saturday.

Moreover, non-oil trade volumes in metric tons registered a compound growth rate of 6.1 percent, the UAE state news agency WAM reported.

Dubai's trade volumes grew a healthy 8.2 percent in 2016 compared to the previous year, said the Dubai Customs, quoted by the WAM.

The development reflected the "resilience" of UAE's economy amid a challenging macroeconomic environment which impacted global trade, reinforcing its reputation as a global trading hub, said Dubai Customs.

The UAE has vowed to diversify economy and attract investment to rely less on oil. Around 90 percent of Emirati oil is located in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

Despite the increase in volumes, currency fluctuations impacted the dirham value of Dubai's trade, which saw a decline of 4.1 percent from 1.331 trillion dirham (362.67 billion U.S. dollars) to 1.276 trillion dirham (347.68 billion dollars) between 2014 and 2016.

However, the figures in Euros grew 15 percent from 273 billion euro (291.14 billion dollars) in 2014 to 314 billion euro (334.87 billion dollars) in 2016.

Dubai's trade patterns continue to display strong resilience, said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World Group chairman and chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.

Meanwhile, economic uncertainty is also reflected in the performance of the Dubai stock exchange Dubai Fanancial Market, whose market index lost 1.43 percent since the start of the year.

The International Monetary Fund recently announced a positive outlook for Dubai's prospects in 2017 predicting 3.6 percent growth. Endit