Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry have confirmed the conclusion of negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two nations.
The agreement seeks to eliminate or lower tariffs, reduce barriers to trade, and promote private-sector collaboration. Moreover, it seeks to establish new pathways for investment.
Growing bilateral trade ties
The CEPA builds on deepening economic ties between the two nations, which in 2023 saw bilateral non-oil trade exceed $4.9 billion. In the first half of 2024, non-oil trade reached $2.5 billion, a 7 percent annual increase.
Malaysia currently ranks as the UAE’s 12th-largest Asian trading partner and fifth among ASEAN countries. Meanwhile, the UAE is Malaysia’s second-largest trade partner in the Arab world. The UAE is also the destination for 40 percent of Malaysia’s merchandise exports to the Arab world.
Commenting on the negotiations, Al Zeyoudi stressed that the UAE’s progress in concluding CEPAs with promising economies worldwide reflects its forward-looking vision. Moreover, it serves the leadership’s directives to build strategic partnerships that increase trade and investment flows and stimulate sustainable economic growth.
“Malaysia is a long-standing and trusted trade partner that, like the UAE, is seeking to enhance its economic prospects through increased trade and targeted investment,” he added.
Al Zeyoudi added that Malaysia is the fourth-largest economy in Southeast Asia. The country offers substantial opportunities for UAE exporters, industrialists, and business leaders, especially in high-growth sectors such as energy, logistics, manufacturing, and financial services.
Greater access for Malaysian exporters
For his part, Aziz said: “As Malaysia’s first, historic free-trade agreement with a GCC nation, I am confident the CEPA will enhance trade, boost investments, and deepen the Malaysia-UAE economic ties.”
The UAE is a strategic hub for Malaysian exporters, facilitating access to markets in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.
“The CEPA is also a strategic lever for UAE-based companies to optimize Malaysia as a gateway into the ASEAN market, which in turn will provide tremendous opportunities for our businesses – particularly the SMEs – through integration into regional supply chains, capacity-building and knowledge sharing via the UAE investors,” he added.
Read: UAE, New Zealand sign CEPA agreement to reduce tariffs, enhance trade and investment flows
UAE-ASEAN bloc trade ties
The UAE’s CEPA program aims to increase the country’s non-oil foreign trade to AED4 trillion by expanding relations with strategically important markets around the world.
The program has strengthened the UAE’s ties with the ASEAN bloc, with the Indonesia and Cambodia CEPAs now in operation, each helping to accelerate bilateral trade.
For more news on logistics, click here.
