China replaces India as Dubai’s biggest non-oil trade partner



China is now Dubai’s biggest non-oil trade partner, government figures show.

Trade with China totalled Dh175 billion in 2014, up from Dh135.7bn the previous year.

That represents an increase of 29 per cent – enough to push India off the top spot as Dubai’s major non-oil trade partner.

Non-oil trade between Dubai and India totalled Dh109bn last year. The United States accounted for Dh83bn of trade, while Saudi Arabia was the UAE’s largest Gulf trade partner, with a total trade value of Dh52bn.

Overall non-oil trade totalled Dh1.33 trillion in 2014 – an increase of 0.15 per cent against 2013’s figure of Dh1.32 trillion.

Non-oil exports and re-exports accounted for Dh486bn, while Dubai imported Dh845bn of goods and services.

Dubai’s appetite for smartphones accounted for the biggest chunk, with trade in the devices totalling Dh178bn in 2014, an increase of 9 per cent against the previous year.

Direct trade accounted for Dh818.8bn of Dubai’s total non-oil trade, while free zones accounted for Dh488.7bn.

Jebel Ali Free Zone, which reported its full-year results this month, added 650 new businesses last year, leading profits to grow by 50 per cent across 2014.

Demand for warehouse space near Dubai World Central, and around the area of Dubai’s mooted logistics corridor, is strong, real estate analysts said.

Dubai aims to become one of the world’s leading logistics hubs.

“Historically, trade has always been a prime economic activity commonly practiced by the people of the UAE, and today the trade sector plays a significant role in our overall economic development,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.

“Within the framework of our comprehensive developmental strategy, trade has integrated with other sectors to secure diversification of our national income confirming our ability to sustain solid growth,” he said.

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Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
​​​​​​​Bloomsbury Academic

The biog

Siblings: five brothers and one sister

Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota

Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym

Favourite place: UAE

Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera

What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books

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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
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Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
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Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
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Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.

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It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.

It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.

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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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SPECS
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Most polluted cities in the Middle East

1. Baghdad, Iraq
2. Manama, Bahrain
3. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
4. Kuwait City, Kuwait
5. Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
6. Ash Shihaniyah, Qatar
7. Abu Dhabi, UAE
8. Cairo, Egypt
9. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
10. Dubai, UAE

Source: 2022 World Air Quality Report

MOST POLLUTED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

1. Chad
2. Iraq
3. Pakistan
4. Bahrain
5. Bangladesh
6. Burkina Faso
7. Kuwait
8. India
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Source: 2022 World Air Quality Report

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance

Company+Profile

Name:+Thndr
Started:+2019
Co-founders:+Ahmad+Hammouda+and+Seif+Amr
Sector:+FinTech
Headquarters:+Egypt
UAE+base:+Hub71,+Abu+Dhabi
Current+number+of+staff:+More+than+150
Funds+raised:+$22+million+

How to invest in gold

Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.

A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

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Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”

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Director: M Night Shyamalan

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Thursday, April 4

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