Lubna sees non-oil sector gaining export share
Dubai: UAE's exports are expected to rise 21 per cent in 2006 to Dh514 billion ($140 billion) and imports by three per cent to Dh306 billion, the Minister of Economy said on Wednesday.

"Oil and petroleum products made up 40 per cent of exports," Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi told a GCC-Japan Business Partnership seminar.

"This percentage is expected to continue to reduce each year as investment in industry and sectors other than oil and gas continues to boost GDP and manufactured products find markets overseas."

The UAE's trade with Japan reflects the rapid growth of the non-oil segment.

In 2005, non-oil trade between Japan and UAE was estimated at Dh16.44 billion, having risen more than a 101 per cent from the Dh8.16 billion recorded in 2001.

The increase in oil prices since 2004 has increased disposable incomes in the UAE, which in turn is boosting trade, the minister said.

Shaikha Lubna also expects the UAE's GDP at current prices to rise 23 per cent in 2006 to Dh597 billion ($162.6 billion) but said the IMF had estimated it will rise 36 per cent. That made the UAE the world's 36th largest economy, she added.

The UAE is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with Japan within the GCC framework but this is a complex process since the UAE has a federal structure with some emirates enjoying considerable autonomy.

"FTAs are difficult but they are still based on the premise that markets open on both sides," Shaikha Lubna said.

"We often find that whilst our market is opened for our FTA partners and impediments to business are removed or eased, the same is not always the case on the part of our often more developed partner."