Spain and United Arab Emirates foster economic and trade relations between the two countries

The Spain-United Arab Emirates Joint Committee, chaired by the Ministers for Economic Affairs of the two countries, Luis de Guindos and Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, agreed to promote investments and bilateral economic and trade relations, as well as to increase support for trade between the two countries in collaboration with the EU.

The committee meeting, which took place on Monday and Tuesday in Madrid and Granada, provided an opportunity for the delegations from the two countries to exchange information on trends in the main macro-statistics on their trade exchanges, examine opportunity sectors for exports and investment, and analyse potential barriers that could become an obstacle to future trade exchanges. During the course of the meetings, particular emphasis was placed on the important role played by SMEs in the process to strengthen bilateral economic relations between the two countries.

Expo 2020

The World Expo to be hosted by Dubai in 2020, as well as the numerous infrastructure, equipment and service projects scheduled to be developed there between now and then, were a major topic in the presentations given by the UAE delegation. In turn, Spain expressed the interest shown by Spanish companies in forming part of this development of infrastructures, provision of equipment and rendering of services for the event. A public investment of 8 billion dollars and a private investment that will far surpass this amount are expected to take place over the next five years.

The Spanish delegation highlighted the track record and prestige of Spanish companies in terms of railway expansion, metro lines and other transport infrastructures being built in the United Arab Emirates. It also highlighted their leadership in other areas of interest to UAE, such as desalination, water treatment, renewable energies, farming and food security.

Besides these issues, this third session of the joint committee discussed other topics of interest to the two delegations:

• To show the dynamic nature of the UAE economy, which is 28th in the world in terms of its GDP, with growth rates of over 4% in the last four years. Analyse the impact of the recent drop in oil prices on an economy that has taken great strides to diversify.
• To ascertain the state of play of the Spanish economy and analyse macro-economic data following the implementation of structural reforms on economic, fiscal and financial matters.
• To foster bilateral trade relations, which have almost doubled in the last five years from 1 billion euros in 2009 to 1.9 billion in 2014.
• Furthermore, UAE is the leading investor in Spain from the Gulf region with a stock estimated at 5.45 billion euros. In turn, over 100 Spanish companies are registered with permanent establishments in UAE.
• The inclusion of UAE in the priority areas covered by the Integrated Market Development Plans being implemented by the State Secretariat of Trade has been reflected in increased activity in terms of direct and inverse trade missions, sectorial seminars and trade fairs, and individualised support to companies. Estimates show that 7,650 Spanish companies export to UAE.
• The tourism sector is also subject to attention. The increased frequency of flights between the two countries and the increasingly visible participation by UAE in the FITUR trade fair are clear demonstrations of the importance given to this sector.