وزراء ومسؤولون يؤكدون أهمية اتفاقية الشراكة الاقتصادية الشاملة مع موريشيوس
القاهرة: «دريم نيوز»
Dubai, July 22 (WAM) – Ministers and officials in the UAE government stressed that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed with the Republic of Mauritius represents the beginning of a new era of development and joint cooperation in the fields of trade, economy and investment.
The agreement aims to increase the flow of free trade and investments between the two countries and facilitate investment opportunities in several key sectors.
The signing of this agreement comes within the framework of the UAE’s strategy to increase its non-oil trade to AED 4 trillion and boost its exports to AED 800 billion by 2031.
His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, stressed that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius represents an important step in efforts to establish strategic partnerships that consolidate our position as a trade and investment hub, drive productivity in key export sectors, and increase the global competitiveness of our trade system.
“As a fast-growing economy strategically located between Asia and Africa, Mauritius has the potential to become an important partner in these efforts, and we look forward to deepening our cooperation in the coming months and years to serve the interests of both friendly countries,” His Excellency said.
His Excellency Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius represents an important development in the efforts to advance partnership relations between the UAE and Africa, as it will help build an important trade and investment corridor between the two sides, and open up opportunities in a rapidly growing emerging market for the investment community in the UAE, especially for vital capital projects, such as ports, transportation hubs, and tourism infrastructure.
His Excellency added that the agreement will support the two countries’ efforts in the energy sector in light of their future orientations, especially Mauritius, which aims to implement an ambitious clean energy program to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix to 60% by 2030, with a focus on several energy sources, including solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, hydropower, and waste-to-energy.
“With its technological advancement and extensive experience in renewable energy, the UAE can become an important partner for Mauritius in this field, supporting its transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy and could become a model for the entire African continent,” His Excellency said.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, stressed that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius represents an important step within the plans to open up to the world in terms of trade and investment by concluding partnerships with markets of strategic importance regionally and internationally on the global economic map. The agreement will provide new opportunities for the private sector in the UAE across many fields.
His Excellency said, “Mauritius has a promising economy that is one of the most prosperous in Africa, achieving 8.5% growth in its GDP in 2022, which is the fastest growth in 35 years. It also has a vibrant industrial sector, with the textile and light engineering sectors playing a key role in its continued economic growth, which enhances the prospects for cooperation with industrial and investment companies in the country, whether in terms of providing the Mauritian economy with the materials and resources it needs or helping to develop its industrial base to ensure stronger and longer-term prosperity. This agreement is an important mechanism for building a new corridor for industrial, investment and trade cooperation with Africa.”
His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said that Mauritius has a diversified and fast-growing economy that represents an important gateway to Africa, and expectations indicate that its real GDP growth will reach 3.8% and 4.2% in 2024 and 2025, respectively, making it an important hub for global growth in Africa.
His Excellency explained that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius is based on nearly half a century of economic relations between the two sides, and constitutes another important step towards expanding the scope of the UAE’s global partner network, and completing plans to double the size of the national economy to 3 trillion dirhams by the next decade in light of the goals of the “We the Emirates 2031” vision.
“The economic integration between the two countries will yield tremendous benefits, as the agreement will enhance the flow of goods and services between the country and the African continent, provide new market opportunities for UAE exports, and increase investments in priority sectors such as the new economy, logistics, manufacturing, tourism, the financial sector and professional services, and support communication between the business communities in the two countries. We look forward to achieving full benefit from this agreement during the next phase, in a way that serves the growth and sustainability of the economies of the two friendly countries,” he added.
His Excellency Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, Minister of Investment, said that the UAE continues to expand its network of investment and trade partners around the world by concluding strategic partnerships with markets of qualitative importance and promising prospects on the global economic map. Mauritius is one of the promising economies in the African continent, as its economy achieved a GDP growth of 8.5% in 2022, the highest in 35 years.
His Excellency added, “The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius, the first of its kind with an African country, provides an important investment corridor with this promising economy, especially in the services sector, which represents about 67% of Mauritius’ GDP. This means many investment opportunities for Emirati companies specializing in communications, computer and information services, travel, transportation and financial services that are looking to expand in Africa.”
His Excellency said, “The agreement contributes to stimulating investment flows in priority sectors, and will certainly play a pivotal role in establishing joint projects that support the achievement of strategic investment targets in both countries. We look forward to working with our partners in Mauritius to develop and implement the ambitious goals of this partnership.”
Her Excellency Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dhaheri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius represents an important addition to the country’s efforts to achieve food security. Arable land is one of Mauritius’ most important natural resources, representing nearly 40% of its total area. The agreement provides the two countries with the opportunity to develop this essential sector and unify efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change, which threatens the sector’s sustainability in the long term.
“Mauritius is taking a number of important steps in this area, including reducing the use of pesticides and promoting self-sufficiency through the promotion of local crops, agro-processing and smart farming. Our investors can support these efforts and develop value chains that provide greater and more stable benefits to producers, and ensure their products reach new markets across Asia and Europe,” she added.
His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State, stressed that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and the Republic of Mauritius represents a pivotal step in the journey of our bilateral relations. Mauritius, like the UAE, enjoys an important strategic location between the continents of Africa and Asia, making it a vital commercial and logistical hub. The agreement will raise trade flows to higher levels and enhance Mauritius’ position as a global gateway to Africa. It will also drive investment in the most important sectors of the Mauritian economy, especially energy, mining, agriculture and tourism, and contribute to ensuring that its economy is built on solid and sustainable foundations.”
“The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Mauritius – the first signed by the UAE with a country in Africa – embodies our commitment to deepening our relations with the countries and people of the rapidly growing continent, which will become a key element in global green energy and food security agendas in the coming decades,” His Excellency added.
His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan stressed that the UAE has worked over the past five decades to strengthen international partnerships to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of its economy, as it is moving steadily towards becoming a global capital for investment and economic innovation by signing partnership agreements with countries with active economies, which paves the way for more development opportunities.
His Excellency explained that the UAE’s signing of comprehensive economic partnership agreements with strategic partners comes within a long-term strategy to diversify its economic ties and develop strong international partnerships in the fields of trade, industry and investment to create more opportunities for the peoples of the region to achieve vital economic development.
His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, stressed: “The UAE, based on the forward-looking vision of our wise leadership, believes in the importance of trade as a fundamental element for sustainable growth in the long term and for continuous economic diversification. Therefore, we seek to raise the value of our non-oil foreign trade in goods to AED 4 trillion by 2031. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements Program implemented by the country constitutes an important component in achieving this mission, as it builds a wide and diverse network of trading partners around the world, which provides new and promising markets for Emirati exports, increases the flow of goods to our ports and industrial zones, and opens new channels for investment and benefits from the latest innovations and ideas of the global economy.”
“The partnership with Mauritius, a fast-growing economy strategically located in the Indian Ocean, marks a new milestone in the UAE’s journey to diversify its network of trade and investment partners. By eliminating or reducing customs duties, removing barriers to trade and improving market access, the agreement will boost non-oil bilateral trade to over $500 million over five years and boost the UAE’s GDP growth by 0.96 percent over the same period,” His Excellency added.
His Excellency Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State, said: “The agreement between the UAE and Mauritius represents an important addition to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements Program adopted by the country as a key component of the “Fifty Projects” launched in September 2021 with the aim of enhancing the UAE’s position as a global hub for trade, business and investment, and enhancing the country’s role as a supporter of international cooperation and regional stability. The agreement with Mauritius will provide clear economic benefits to both countries and consolidate the UAE’s efforts to support emerging countries to benefit from the advantages of the global trading system in their pursuit of sustainable and long-term development. The agreement will provide a range of economic benefits to both countries, and we look forward to increasing trade flows and investment projects it will create.”
His Excellency Khalid Mohammed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, said: “The UAE continues to establish economic partnerships with the aim of achieving sustainable growth and enhancing prosperity and stability at the regional and global levels. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and the Republic of Mauritius comes within the UAE’s efforts to consolidate international cooperation relations, increase economic growth, enhance trade exchange, provide more investment opportunities, and stimulate and develop UAE exports by finding new sources to create added value.”
He added, “Given that the UAE is a model of financial and monetary stability, and an effective and flexible global financial system, the bilateral partnership agreement provides broad opportunities for the two countries to enhance cooperation and joint work in the financial services sector, in addition to trade and investment fields, in a way that achieves mutual benefit for the two friendly countries.”
His Excellency Ahmed Abdullah bin Lahej Al Falasi, Director General of Customs at the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security, stressed that the UAE has become an integrated strategic trade hub and an important destination within global supply chains, which helps drive economic growth and diversification, and ensures that the country plays a leading role in the field of global trade, starting from innovation and reaching governance, and by removing or reducing customs duties and removing unnecessary barriers to trade.
“The UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA) programme is an important element in our role as a trade facilitator,” he said. “The recent agreement with Mauritius will provide tremendous benefits to both countries, ushering in a new era of trade between the UAE and Mauritius, as well as between the UAE and Africa as a whole.”
His Excellency Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai, said: “The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Mauritius is the latest step in the UAE’s ongoing efforts to forge international partnerships that stimulate global trade growth, support development paths and economic cooperation, and consolidate its position as a global logistics hub. The agreement with Mauritius builds on a long history of trade relations and strategic investments, including the opening of a representative office in Dubai for the Mauritius Economic Development Board in March 2022.”
“The agreement will enable UAE exporters and investors to access a promising economy in the region and benefit from opportunities in a strategically located country that can become an ideal gateway to Africa and the Global South. The agreement will accelerate the free flow of goods and services between the two countries. It will write a new prosperous chapter in bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, and contribute to raising the volume of trade exchange between the UAE and the African continent to approximately AED 180 billion (USD 50 billion) in the coming few years. This is while the comprehensive strategic partnership agreements support the ambitious aspirations to increase the total volume of non-oil global trade in the UAE to AED 4 trillion (USD 1.1 trillion) by 2031,” His Excellency added.
للمزيد : تابعنا علي دريم نيوز، وللتواصل الاجتماعي تابعنا علي فيسبوك وتويتر .
مصدر المعلومات والصور: wam
