The number of comprehensive economic partnership agreements signed by the UAE has reached 38 since the programme was launched in September 2021, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on August 15, as the country’s non-oil foreign trade reached 1.937 trillion dirhams in the first half of 2026.
Non-oil trade reaches record levels
Non-oil exports reached about 452.8 billion dirhams in the first half of 2026, while trade with countries where comprehensive economic partnership agreements have entered into force stood at about 304.3 billion dirhams. UAE exports to those markets reached about 66.1 billion dirhams.
The results came after the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade reached 3.8 trillion dirhams in 2025, registering growth of more than 26%, while non-oil exports grew by more than 45%.
Agreements span Asia, Africa and Europe
The partnership network covers markets in Asia, including India, Indonesia and Turkey, European markets including Ukraine and Serbia, as well as African countries including Kenya, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.
The UAE-Gabon agreement aims to strengthen trade and private-sector cooperation and facilitate investment in agriculture, logistics and renewable energy. The UAE-Republic of the Congo agreement seeks to build on the growth in non-oil bilateral trade and create opportunities for long-term partnerships and investment.
In East Africa, the UAE and Kenya signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement aimed at strengthening trade and investment ties and improving market access in the Middle East and East Africa.
Agreements in force and new negotiations
The comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the UAE and Ukraine entered into force on July 1, 2026. The UAE-Serbia agreement also entered into force, providing for the elimination or reduction of tariffs on a large proportion of tariff lines.
Non-oil trade between the UAE and India was valued at 107.5 billion dirhams in the first half of 2026, after India became one of the first countries with which the UAE’s economic partnership agreement entered into force.
The UAE and Canada concluded negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement in July 2026, completing them in the shortest period under the partnerships programme. Bilateral trade stood at about 4.2 billion dollars in 2025, up 21% from 2024.
Linking agreements to industrial exports
Participants at Make it in the Emirates 2026 said the comprehensive economic partnerships programme gives UAE products, services and advanced industrial exports access to mature and emerging markets.
By expanding the agreements, the UAE aims to diversify export destinations, reduce tariffs and trade barriers, improve market-access terms and support investment and production partnerships, drawing on its logistics infrastructure, ports and free zones.
