Over their seventh Economic Policy Dialogue via videoconference on June 18, both the United Arab Emirates and the United States reaffirmed their desire to expand engagement and pursue new economic, trade, investment, and commercial opportunities.
The dialogue was co-chaired by;
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs, Abdulnasser Alshaali and
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Peter Haas.
While the attendees also included
The UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba
US Ambassador to the UAE; John Rakolta and
US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kelley Currie.
During the discussions, both countries reaffirmed their wish to increase engagement and seek new economic, trade, investment, and commercial opportunities. Despite the challenges introduced by the current global health situation, both sides praised the convening of the event and reiterated their shared commitment to maintaining open and regular communication.
The two delegations validated that the UAE-US economic relationship remains close and constructive. They remarked that non-oil bilateral trade between the UAE and the United States has grown consistently in recent years, with the UAE constituting the United States’ largest export market in the Middle East and North African region for the 11th consecutive year.
Both sides highlighted the shared benefits of this relationship, with UAE trade and investment supporting more than 116,000 American jobs. It was also seen that the United States maintained a USD 15.6 billion trade surplus with the UAE in 2019, its third-largest globally, thus emphasizing the UAE’s position as a vital economic partner.
During the meeting, delegates from both countries reviewed efforts to boost bilateral trade. The United States stressed its appreciation for the significant progress the UAE continues to make in executing open economic and investment policies and its ongoing efforts to strengthen regional economic prosperity.
Turning to broader commercial interaction, the UAE raised concerns about steel and aluminum tariffs and thanked the United States for the constructive bilateral dialogue that continues to take place on the newly extended requirements relating to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Additionally, both sides pledged to explore new possible areas for cooperation in a range of sectors, including food security, health security and healthcare research, space, customs matters, emerging technologies, and women’s economic empowerment in line with the United States’ Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, the UAE and US delegations reemphasized their interest to work closely and collaboratively in developing bilateral trade and investment and exploring new opportunities for positive engagement.
In 2012, the UAE and United States partnered to create the Economic Policy Dialogue, which serves as an annual platform for both governments to strengthen bilateral trade and investments and to promote a more cooperative business environment.
