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UAE and Vietnam pact aims for $20bn in bilateral trade

UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh in Abu Dhabi Wam
UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh in Abu Dhabi
  • Vietnam’s first Middle East Cepa
  • Up to 99% of tariffs eliminated
  • Trade worth $4.7bn last year

The UAE and Vietnam have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), paving the way for $20 billion in bilateral trade.

This marks Vietnam’s first Cepa with a Middle Eastern country and was signed by prime minister Pham Minh Chinh in Dubai on Monday, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported.

The agreement seeks to enhance cooperation across key sectors, including foreign affairs, defence, security, legal and judicial cooperation, trade, investment and agriculture.

Under the Cepa terms, the UAE will gradually eliminate tariffs on 99 percent of Vietnam’s exports, while Vietnam will remove tariffs on 98 percent of UAE exports, Reuters reported citing a statement from Vietnam’s trade ministry.

Both nations also committed to activating a joint working group for economic and trade cooperation and exploring new mechanisms for economic collaboration through various business councils, task forces and investment funds.

The two countries urged their private sectors to promote and expand their trade and investment cooperation in the energy sector, including green and renewable energy, LNG, oil and gas production, refining and petrochemicals.

The UAE reiterated its commitment to supply Vietnam with oil and gas products.

Last year, trade between the two countries reached $4.7 billion, up 6 percent compared to 2022.

Vietnam is the UAE’s 13th Cepa deal with countries across the world as it looks to increase non-oil foreign trade to AED4 trillion by 2031.

The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade reached a record AED1.4 trillion in the first half of this year.