The UAE has announced plans to begin bilateral trade deal talks with Ukraine, Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE's minister of state for foreign trade, said in a tweet Monday. The negotiations are expected to conclude by mid-2023.
Ukraine's Economy Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, and Al Zeyoudi inked a joint statement on negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with an aim to expand trade in the services sector and boost food security.
"A #UAE-UkraineCEPA will help to drive Ukraine’s economic recovery and create new opportunities for exporters, investors and manufacturers, and facilitate collaboration in high-value sectors such as infrastructure, heavy industry, aviation, IT & food security," Al Zeyoudi added in the tweet.
The agreement would open up access to new markets in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East for Ukraine's agricultural and industrial output, a Reuters report noted.
During the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the UAE in February 2021, there were more than $3 billion in trade and investment pledges made.
Non-oil trade between the UAE and Ukraine amounted to over $900 million in 2021, up nearly 29% over the previous year and 12% more than in 2019. Trade between the two countries fell in the first nine months of 2022 as a result of the war.
The UAE could increase trade with Ukraine 10-fold over the coming decade, if the trade talk goes as planned
