UAE signs economic pact with Mauritius aimed at boosting trade

The United Arab Emirates and Mauritius signed an economic agreement aimed at increasing bilateral trade, particularly in the financial, logistics and services sectors. 

The pact, known as a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, marks the Gulf country’s first such deal with an African nation, according to the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi. 

The agreement aims to boost non-oil, bilateral trade between the two countries to $500 million in five years from $170 million in 2023, Al Zeyoudi said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.

The economic pact will include trading of petrochemicals, heavy machinery, precious metals and food, and will add an estimated 1% to both countries’ gross domestic product by the end of the decade, he said. 

“The main focus in our relations with Mauritius is services,” Al Zeyoudi said. Mauritius “is a financial hub and we are an economic and financial hub, so we complement each other.” 

The energy-rich UAE has been signing similar pacts to grow trade with several countries, such as India, Israel and Turkey. In 2021, the Gulf country said it planned to deepen its trade ties with fast-growing economies by attracting $150 billion in foreign investment.

A big part of the push has been in African nations, with the UAE pledging more investment in the continent’s economies than any other country. The UAE’s financial input in Mauritius stands at around $13.2 billion to date, according to the minister. 

The deal will pave the way for deepening trade with other nations both in Africa and the Far East, said Al Zeyoudi. A similar economic pact between the UAE and India, along with a free-trade agreement between India and Mauritius, will allow all three countries to share joint projects, he said.