UAE celebrates 10 years of BRI, maintains focus on development

The United Arab Emirates has made major contributions to the Belt and Road Initiative and has reaped significant benefits from it, with the BRI set to further support economic development and prosperity in the country and beyond, latest analysis showed.

The UAE is participating in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the launch of the China-proposed BRI, which was put forward by President Xi Jinping in 2013, and the cooperation with over 150 countries, a report by the Emirates News Agency or WAM said.

"The BRI serves as a vital link to bolster economic, trade and investment interactions involving about 75 percent of the world's population," the report said. The initiative aims to establish a network of trade and infrastructure connecting Asia to Europe and Africa, with a shared goal of achieving development and prosperity.

The UAE enjoys extensive and diverse economic and trade partnerships with China, ranking among its foremost strategic allies on the global stage. Similarly, the Middle East nation maintains significant ties with the countries poised to contribute to the commercial routes of the Silk Road.

"The UAE holds a proactive and engaged membership as a founding participant in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, under China's leadership. This bank is committed to fostering development partnerships within the Asian continent and beyond," the WAM report said.

The UAE boasts advanced logistics capabilities, showcased by its expansive airports and global ports. These assets are complemented by its capacity to efficiently transport substantial cargo volumes, facilitating the seamless integration of land and maritime routes as part of the BRI.

The report said the UAE's active participation and endorsement of the initiative will further fuel trade, infrastructure development and transportation projects, while lowering investment costs.

The UAE has become an active partner in the BRI since the initiative was launched, leveraging its developmental capabilities, strategic location and pioneering economic role in the region. The initiative offers favorable opportunities for the UAE's regional and international developmental and investment aspirations.

The BRI has the potential to double the country's competitive advantage and develop its foreign trade, especially its re-export activity, according to the WAM report.

The UAE has already invested $10 billion in a joint China-UAE investment fund to support BRI projects in East Africa. In 2018, the UAE signed 13 memorandums of understanding with China to invest in multiple sectors in the Middle East country.

The UAE's trade with countries in Asia, Africa and Europe reached about $560 billion in 2022, accounting for 90 percent of the UAE's non-oil trade. China, India, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkiye, Japan, Oman and Kuwait are among the UAE's top trading partners. The UAE's non-oil trade with these countries grew by 20 percent in 2022 compared with 2021, latest industry figures showed.

Data from the first half of the year showed that the value of the UAE's non-oil trade with countries participating in the BRI reached $305 billion, accounting for 90 percent of the UAE's non-oil trade during that period, while trade grew by more than 13 percent compared with the first half of 2022.

"A remarkable 88 percent of the UAE's imports originate from countries actively involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, while 94 percent of the UAE's non-oil exports are destined for these nations and 92 percent of its re-exports are directed to them. These statistics constitute a vital underpinning for the successful implementation of the BRI in collaboration with all the countries contributing to the reinvigoration of trade among the regions," it said.

The BRI represents 30 percent of the world's GDP and projections indicate that the countries covered by the initiative will account for nearly two-thirds of the world's GDP by 2040, according to the report.

"It is essential to note that the initiative draws its inspiration from the ancient Silk Road. It establishes a new economic development zone in western China and presents an ambitious economic vision, aiming to construct a bridge that connects an economic circle in Asia and the Pacific in the east to an advanced European economic circle in the west," it said.

China Daily-Emirates News Agency