Mohammed bin Rashid witnesses the launch of the national program “The UAE is a global center for trade”

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” witnessed the launch of the “UAE is a global trade center” program, which is implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Trade in partnership with a number of ministries, federal and local authorities, and chambers of commerce.

The program is a strategic step to strengthen the UAE’s position as a global gateway for the flow of goods and services, accelerate the achievement of national targets for foreign trade, open new markets for UAE exports, expand re-export operations, and consolidate the country’s presence at the heart of the global economy.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “We launched an international economic program to enhance the UAE’s global position in foreign trade. The program aims to attract the 1,000 most important global companies in the field of international trade, and launch a digital portal that connects thousands of Emirati export companies to foreign markets. It also provides greater opportunities for their products and new markets for their exports, thus strengthening the country’s position in being a major station on international trade routes.”

The launch of the program, which is supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, aims to further consolidate the country’s position as a gateway to enhance the flow of trade in goods and services across the world, contribute to accelerating the achievement of national targets related to foreign trade, open new markets for non-oil UAE exports, and expand re-export operations, by benefiting from the country’s network of trade partners extending across all continents of the world.

The launch of this program, in partnership with ministries, relevant authorities, chambers of commerce and relevant institutions, is a strategic step that reflects the country’s commitment to strengthening its strategic position on the map of the global economy as a major hub for global trade flows.

His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, confirmed that the launch of the “UAE Global Trade Center” program comes in implementation of the vision and directives of the wise leadership to further open up to the world commercially, and to continue expanding the network of the country’s trading partners by opening new markets, enabling Emirati companies to access and benefit from commercial opportunities around the world, preparing a new generation of trade leaders in the country, and anticipating commercial opportunities around the world, thus contributing to economic diversification plans, and accelerating the achievement of national goals related to foreign trade.

His Excellency said that the UAE Global Trade Center program is an integrated work platform that opens new horizons for Emirati companies and exports, provides young people with real opportunities to participate in shaping the future of global trade, and contributes to advancing UAE foreign trade to the next stage of growth and prosperity, by taking advantage of our strategic location as a global trade hub, investing in advanced technologies, and continuing to build international partnerships, to enhance the UAE’s position at the heart of the global economic movement.

The launch of the “Emirates Global Trade Center Program” comes at a time when the UAE continues to achieve historic growth rates in its non-oil trade with the world, as the country’s non-oil trade continued during the first nine months of the year 2025 on its upward path, recording 2.67 trillion dirhams, a growth of 24.6% compared to the same period in 2024, and the UAE’s non-oil exports also continued to achieve unprecedented historical growth rates, recording 579.4 billion dirhams during The same period, with a growth rate exceeding 42.6%, compared to the same period in 2024.

During the first nine months of 2025, the value of re-exports reached 597.7 billion dirhams, a growth of 15% compared to the same period in 2024, and the UAE’s imports reached 1.5 trillion dirhams, a growth of 22.8% compared to the same period in 2024, and 32 comprehensive economic partnership agreements were completed with 53 countries around the world, which constitute 39% of the world’s population, and 13 agreements have already been entered into. Thereof into force.

The “Emirates Global Trade Center Program” aims to advance UAE non-oil trade to the next stage of growth and prosperity, through eight specific initiatives to enhance the country’s commercial openness to the world, enhance the global competitiveness of national products, open new markets for UAE non-oil exports, and expand re-export operations, in order to increase the contribution of foreign trade to the gross domestic product, and continue to stimulate sustainable growth of the national economy.

The “Attracting 1,000 International Trade Companies” initiative aims to consolidate the UAE’s position as a regional and global center for international companies specialized in export and re-export. The initiative focuses on identifying more trade opportunities with partner countries in comprehensive economic partnership agreements. The basic components of the initiative include using advanced trade analyzes to identify goods with high demand in global markets, identifying the main sectors within each comprehensive economic partnership agreement with untapped commercial potential, in addition to monitoring leading global companies in the fields of export and re-export with potential. High competitiveness.

As for the “Emirates Export Gateway” initiative, it relies on creating a unified digital portal for more than 10,000 companies, to enable exporters in the UAE to communicate with global markets more quickly and efficiently by adopting the latest technologies and mechanisms approved in this field to achieve a strong and fast connection. This platform ensures communication with reliable global buyers, making the most of comprehensive economic partnership agreements, and facilitating trade through clear instructions on customs duties and related procedures.

The “Export Readiness” initiative aims to launch an integrated training program for more than 10,000 export companies in the UAE to compete globally, reduce procedural barriers and enhance competitiveness. It includes advanced workshops on selecting target markets, assessing global demand, and building international sales strategies, in addition to basic training on export procedures, preparing commercial documents, and regulatory requirements.

Through this initiative, a series of trade promotional events will be organized in selected countries to enhance UAE exports, open new markets, and build sustainable global trade ties. Also, through this initiative, trade missions will be sent to the targeted countries, and bilateral business meetings will be held between Emirati exporters and international importers, in addition to business meetings with strategic partners around the world.

The “Emirates Trade Expo” initiative aims to hold a global event hosted by the UAE to attract 600 companies and 100,000 visitors from 50 countries around the world, thus forming a global platform for import and export, and facilitating cooperation and economic integration between countries, while the “Emirates Trade Expo” will constitute a global station that brings together elite exporters, investors and international buyers from various continents in order to enable Emirati companies and partners from all over the world to explore new trade and investment opportunities.

The program also focuses on building national capabilities through the “Future Merchants in the Emirates” initiative, which aims to prepare a new generation of Emirati merchants by developing and launching a program to train and build their capabilities and enable them to seize opportunities in all areas of international trade.

The program works to provide the necessary knowledge about promising products and growth areas in the country and in global markets.

The “Young Traders” initiative also aims to involve high school and university students in practical and interactive programs, with the aim of increasing their contribution to shaping the future of the country’s foreign trade by spreading awareness among students.

This initiative aims to develop 15 systems enhanced with artificial intelligence to support and manage the country’s foreign trade to become more rapid and flexible, through instant analysis and prediction of global market trends.

It includes analyzing millions of information points from ports, shipping routes and customs records in real time, monitoring early warning indicators for any potential disruptions in supply chains, in addition to managing risks by forecasting demand and the fastest growing markets, empowering merchants through smart platforms and predictive analytics, and designing policies and programs based on data.

It is worth noting that the UAE continues to expand its network of trading partners around the world through the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements Programme, which was launched in September 2021. Under its umbrella, 32 agreements were reached, 13 of which have entered into force so far. This has had a positive impact on the country’s non-oil foreign trade, which has continued to flourish for years and recorded in 2024 about 3 trillion dirhams, thus completing three-quarters of the way towards achieving the goals of the “UAE 2031 Vision” by reaching 4. Trillions of dirhams by the end of 2031.