Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said that the UAE’s services sector is a key driver of economic growth and diversification. The UAE ranked 12th as the largest exporter of services in the world in 2022, according to the World Trade Organisation. The value of the country’s services exports reached AED 567 billion, or US$154 billion, in the past year. Al Zeyoudi added that global services exports reached US$7.2 trillion in 2022, representing 25 percent of the value of total global exports and 11.8 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). This highlights the enormous potential for the UAE to boost its economic growth and diversification in this direction. The new strategy for services exports, which was recently approved by the Cabinet, is expected to increase the contribution of this vital sector to non-oil foreign trade and the country’s gross domestic product. The services economy currently accounts for more than two-thirds of global economic output. In light of the new strategy, the UAE is working to stimulate the growth and prosperity of its services exports. This is especially important as services trade has increased globally by 60 percent faster than trade in goods and commodities in the past decade. The UAE’s performance has surpassed this global average, as the country’s services exports have increased four times faster than the rest of the world in the past eight years. “The nature of trade is changing and services exports are experiencing significant growth,” Al Zeyoudi said. “While goods trade remains the cornerstone of the global trading system, services trade is making up a larger share of the trade mix.”
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