UAE Business: UAE and Ukraine to initiate negotiations for CEPA – Gulf Digital News

UAE Business: UAE and Ukraine to initiate negotiations for CEPA – Gulf Digital News

UAE and Ukraine have signed a joint statement announcing their intention to initiate negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy of Ukraine, signed the statement.

The signing affirms the commitment of both countries to strengthen bilateral economic ties and build on the strong trade and investment flows between the UAE and Ukraine. In 2021, non-oil trade between the UAE and Ukraine reached $904.4 million, a 28.4% increase over the same period in 2020 and 12.2% more than 2019.

Investments

UAE investment in Ukraine reached nearly $243.3 million in 2021, with Ukrainian investment flows into the UAE totalling $84 million in 2020.

The announcement of CEPA negotiations follows the more than $3 billion in trade and investment pledges made during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the UAE in February 2021. It also represents another key component in the UAE’s efforts to help re-invigorate the national economy of Ukraine, which is one of the Middle East’s most important sources of grains such as barley and wheat.

Dr Al Zeyoudi said that the UAE’s first CEPA with a European nation demonstrates