UAE non-oil foreign trade rises 17 percent in 2015

The federal customs authority (FCA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said here Tuesday the Gulf state posted in 2015 a non-oil total foreign trade volume of approximately 1.56 trillion dirham (425.1 billion U.S. dollars), state news agency WAM reported.

The UAE is home to over 37 industrial free zones which guarantee licensed firms 100 percent tax freedom for 50 years, free capital repatriation and 100 percent foreign ownership.

Commissioner Ali Al-Kaabi, Head of the Federal Customs Authority, FCA, said in a press statement, that the total non-oil trade of the state in the past year has seen a "remarkable stability" due to the economic diversification and declining oil sector's contribution to gross domestic product in favor of the productive and service sectors.

He also confirmed that the statistics of the foreign non-oil trade of the state reflects the confidence of traders in the global markets and trading partners in the economic climate.

The FCA data indicated that the share of imports of the UAE total foreign trade amounted to 952.3 billion dirham (259.50 billion dollars) during 2015.

The native gold and semi-processed gold come on top of the imported goods during the previous year with a share value of 10 percent of the total imports.

Al-Kaabi pointed that the data for the non-oil trade of the state revealed a significant increase in terms of exports to the outside world.

Mobile phones came in the second place on the list of imports with a share of 9.8 percent. Vehicles posted a six percent.

The FCA noted that UAE exports reached 185.4 billion dirham (50.51 billion U. S. dollars) with the yellow precious metal representing 30 percent of the total non-oil exports.