The UAE and Serbia have launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to boost bilateral trade and investment flows.
The first round of talks between senior officials took place in Dubai, the Ministry of Economy said on Monday.
The move comes amid growing relations between the two nations.
In the first half of 2023, bilateral non-oil trade reached $57.6 million, surpassing the total recorded for the whole of 2020, the ministry said.
The UAE is now the third-largest market for Serbian exports in the Middle East, with foreign direct investment focused on sectors such as agriculture, food security, real estate, infrastructure and logistics.
“Serbia is an emerging economy in an increasingly important part of Europe, with strategic links to many vital markets in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, while the UAE can serve as Serbia's gateway to markets in the Middle East, Asia and Africa,” said Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
“The Cepa will not only improve access to these global supply chains but enable our private sectors to build long-term partnerships and explore new investment opportunities.”
The UAE is working towards signing 26 Cepas as it seeks to attract more investment and diversify its economy.
The Emirates has signed Cepas with India, Israel, Turkey, Indonesia, Cambodia and Georgia, each of which are designed to boost economic activity and secure vital supply chains. The first four agreements have already come into effect.
The UAE is seeking to expand trade with partners around the world as it pursues its target of Dh4 trillion ($1.09 trillion) in foreign trade by 2031.
The UAE's non-oil foreign trade hit a record Dh1.24 trillion in the first half of 2023, up 14.4 per cent year on year.
Overall, Cepas are expected to add about 2.6 per cent to the UAE's economy by 2030, Dr Al Zeyoudi said previously.
The negotiations for a Cepa with Serbia come after a series of high-level meetings, including the visit of President Sheikh Mohammed to the Serbian capital Belgrade in June.
The visit resulted in several agreements designed to expand co-operation in sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, food security, technology and artificial intelligence.
A Cepa between the UAE and Serbia will seek to improve bilateral non-oil trade by reducing or eliminating customs duties, removing unnecessary barriers to trade, protecting intellectual property rights, supporting small and medium-sized companies, and enabling mutual investment flows, the ministry said.
It also aims to consolidate co-operation in the sectors of aviation, agriculture, construction, contracting, real estate and defence.
“Serbia is committed to supporting and stimulating the private sector and attracting new foreign investments to the country,” said Tomislav Momirovic, Serbia’s Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade.
“A [Cepa] with the UAE will encourage these trends and create many opportunities for both sides.”
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Company%20profile
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Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
Kanye%20West
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RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
