UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi and Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ms. Natia Turnava have officially started talks to establish a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to strengthen trade and investment ties between both nations.
In the first ten months of 2021, the UAE’s non-oil international trade with Georgia exceeded $165 million, an increase of 33 percent over the same period in 2020. The UAE is also Georgia’s most important source of foreign direct investment from the Arab world and the sixth-largest globally.
The launch of CEPA talks was followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation.
As per the MoU, both countries agreed to expand their cooperation in areas such as transportation and logistics, hospitality and real estate, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industry and mining, food security and agriculture, tourism, science, technology, telecommunications, and innovation, finance and banking, infrastructure and construction, and environment.
Dr. Thani bin Ahamed Al-Zeyoudi UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade
“Georgia and the UAE enjoy close cultural, diplomatic, and economic ties that have evolved and strengthened over the years to become the kind of partnership that we have today. The launch of talks on the UAE-Georgia CEPA reflects our shared desire to work together to enhance the capacity of the private sector, promote startups and entrepreneurs, improve market access and substantially increase the volume of two-way trade. As part of the UAE’s plans to drive sustainable development over the next 50 years and within the framework of the global economic agreements launched by the government of the UAE under the ‘Projects of the 50’, we look forward to concluding the new trade and investment agreement with our friendly partner Georgia as soon as possible.”
Ms. Turnava said, “The bolstering of UAE-Georgian relations has become an increasing priority to both nations as bilateral trade grows, and there is a shared desire and ambition to build on these relations further with a mutually-beneficial comprehensive economic partnership agreement.”
“We want to deepen our existing economic, trade, and investment ties to help boost our respective economies and there are huge opportunities for growth in renewable energy, finance, logistics, and other key sectors,” the Georgian Minister further added.
The UAE has already initiated free trade negotiations with India, Indonesia, and Israel in 2021 and is rapidly expanding links with other vital markets.
