The flow of goods in and out of the UAE surged 25 per cent to a record high of Dh1 trillion last year. Pawan Singh / The National
The flow of goods in and out of the UAE surged 25 per cent to a record high of Dh1 trillion last year. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE foreign trade bucks global trend to rise 25%



The flow of goods in and out of the UAE defied global headwinds to surge 25 per cent to a record high of Dh1 trillion (US$272.24 billion) last year, said a senior trade official.

Despite the euro-zone crisis, the non-oil trade data for the single-currency bloc was also strong, with exports to troubled Greece rising by about 67 per cent, said Abdullah Al Saleh, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade. The data does not include figures for free zones, where trade rose 19 per cent for the year.

Demand for the country's goods - including gold and plastics - also held up well as exports rose 36 per cent.

"We are on the track of recovery, but growth is still positive," Mr Al Saleh said. "In 2009 we witnessed a drop in non-oil trade by 14 per cent and a recovery by 14 per cent in 2010."

Last year's rise means the value of non-oil trade has now passed the previous record of 2008 before the global financial crisis sapped demand for goods.

The Government has made raising the level of the country's non-oil trade, particularly exports, a cornerstone of efforts to diversify the economy.

A big factor in last year's rise was the strength of the UAE's commercial links with the faster-growing economies of India, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, which account for more than half of trade.

"The economies of Asia have remained fairly robust, helping the UAE's exports hold up well," said Khatija Haque, the senior economist at Emirates NBD.

High commodity prices last year were also likely to play a part in the rise, she said. Prices of a wide variety of commodities, including gold and wheat, soared in the first half of the year. Gold is one of the UAE's leading exports after oil.

But officials also point to the robustness of ties with the indebted euro zone, which accounts for about 20 per cent of trade. At the start of the year, there had been concern the unfolding turmoil in the euro zone would dent UAE trade.

But trade with Germany, France, Belgium and Italy, which together make up 80 per cent of total UAE trade with the euro zone, rose 25 per cent, said Mr Al Saleh. Export growth was a big factor in the rise, he said.

The weakness of the euro against the US dollar contributed to the rise in the value of imports from the euro zone to the UAE falling from average annual growth of 35 to 40 per cent to less than 30 per cent last year, he said.

The dirham's peg to the strengthened dollar has helped to bring down the cost of importing goods to the UAE.

"The competitive advantage of our export products in terms of quality and pricing was important," he said. "We have expanded the industrial sector mainly in aluminium and petrochemicals, plastics, ceramics and processed foods."

Officials expect a more modest rise in trade this year as a painful recession in the euro zone and cooling growth in Asia drag on demand for goods.

"Because the world economy has uncertainty, our expectation for 2012 is a 15 to 20 per cent growth for non-oil and non-free zone," Mr Al Saleh said. "There is an expectation in drop in euro-zone GDP and a drop in China and India GDP."

A tightening of sanctions against Iran may also affect trade flows, he said. Non-oil trade with Iran rose 35 per cent in the first nine months of last year, he said.

The flow of goods from Dubai to Iran was falling "day by day", Hamad Buamim, the director general of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said last week.

"In the existing situation there is growth, but in the worst-case scenario of more sanctions, the most affected sector will be re-exports," said Mr Al Saleh.

Iran is a major destination for UAE non-oil goods, with 3 per cent of exports and 6.8 per cent of re-exports headed to the country.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Company%20Profile
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Points to remember
  • Debate the issue, don't attack the person
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  • Avoid assumptions, seek understanding, ask questions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Install an air filter in your home.

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How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Panipat

Director Ashutosh Gowariker

Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment

Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman

Rating 3 /stars

Company%20Profile
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Asia Cup 2018 final

Who: India v Bangladesh

When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium

Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

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Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

European arms

Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons.  Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital

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The Details

Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5 

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

North Pole stats

Distance covered: 160km

Temperature: -40°C

Weight of equipment: 45kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 0

Terrain: Ice rock

South Pole stats

Distance covered: 130km

Temperature: -50°C

Weight of equipment: 50kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300

Terrain: Flat ice
 

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

Opening weekend Premier League fixtures

Weekend of August 10-13

Arsenal v Manchester City

Bournemouth v Cardiff City

Fulham v Crystal Palace

Huddersfield Town v Chelsea

Liverpool v West Ham United

Manchester United v Leicester City

Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur

Southampton v Burnley

Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton

Army of the Dead

Director: Zack Snyder

Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera

Three stars

Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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