Abu Dhabi, UAE – The non-oil trade between the UAE and Canada totalled more than AED10.6 billion ($3 billion) in the first nine months of 2022, an increase of 14.6 percent compared to the same period in 2021.
This was revealed during a meeting between the UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, and the visiting Canadian Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra. In Dubai.
Al Marri told Alghabra that Canada is one of the UAE’s strategic trade partners in North America. He expressed his keenness to enhance the UAE’s cooperation with the Canadian government in strategic areas of mutual concern, including transport, logistics, space, technology, food security and renewable energy.
Al Marri briefed Alghabra about the UAE’s effort to establish an economic environment that supports business growth and attracts investments. He mentioned amendments to over 40 laws, such as one that allows foreigners to have full ownership of Emirati businesses.
In recent years, the trade and tourism between the two countries has shown an upward trend. The number of passengers travelling from the UAE to Canada was more than 45,000 in 2019 while the air traffic between the two countries carries some 286,000 passengers per year.
The number of Canadian visitors staying in hotels in the UAE reached 170,000 residents and non-residents in 2021, according to figures from the World Tourism Organisation.
The UAE is the second leading trading partner of Canada in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the region in 2021, with their non-oil trade amounting to nearly AED12.7 billion in 2021, a rise of 59.3 percent compared to 2020. The Emirati non-oil exports to Canada accounted for more than AED1.2 billion during the first nine months of 2022, an increase of 9 percent compared to the same period in 2021.
Emirati re-exports to Canada totalled more than AED880 million, a rise of 45 percent in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2021. Emirati imports from Canada surged more than AED8.4 billion during the first nine months of 2022, an increase of 13 percent compared to the same period last year.
Canadian direct investments in the UAE until the start of 2021 amounted to AED3.6 billion, a rise of 100 percent over the past eight years while Emirati investments in Canada totalled some AED23.3 billion until the start of 2021.