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Cepa aims to grow UAE and Malaysia trade by 60%

UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2025 Wam
UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2025
  • Deal streamlines trade procedures
  • Trade reached $4.9bn in 2023
  • UAE says Malaysia is vital partner

The UAE and Malaysia have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) that is expected to be a catalyst for a 60 percent increase in trade between the two nations over the next five years.

The countries concluded negotiations for a Cepa deal in October, which will reduce or eliminate tariffs, streamline trade procedures and improve market access for service exports.

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $4.9 billion in 2023, and $4 billion in the first nine months of 2024.

The UAE is Malaysia’s second-largest trade partner in the Arab world, representing a third of Malaysia’s trade with Arab countries.

The Cepa is expected to make the UAE a strategic hub for Malaysian exports to the Middle East and North Africa, while also opening the Asean market to UAE businesses.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan described the agreement, which was signed on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, as “a pivotal milestone in UAE-Malaysia relations”, the UAE state-owned news agency Wam reported.

He said Malaysia’s fast-growing economy and pro-trade policies make it a vital partner in Southeast Asia.

The agreement will “deepen cooperation in key sectors, reinforce supply chains, unlock investment potential and open new doors for the two countries’ private sectors”, he said.

Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Investment, Tengku Zafru said the Cepa “will catalyse closer economic integration, contributing to shared prosperity and more sustainable growth for both countries” and added that his next aim was to secure a free trade agreement with the wider GCC.

The UAE’s Cepa programme, launched in September 2021, aims to increase its non-oil trade to $1.1 trillion in value by 2031 and double the size of its economy to over $800 billion by 2030.

A total of 17 Cepas have been signed – eight are in force and nine are awaiting implementation.

On a further seven Cepas, the UAE has concluded negotiations and is awaiting signing and enforcement.

UAE-Malaysia trade
  • A takeover offer for Malaysia Airports Holdings by a consortium that includes the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) is moving closer to the threshold required to take it private.
  • Malaysia joined Brics as a partner state on January 1. The group of nations, which originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which gave it the acronym, also includes the UAE as a member state which joined 12 months ago.
  • Emirates airline operates three daily services to Kuala Lumpur with Boeing 777 and Airbus A2380, while Batik Air Malaysia operates four weekly Kuala Lumpur-Dubai flights with a Boeing 737 max 8 aircraft. Etihad Airways operates twice daily flights to Kuala Lumpur from Abu Dhabi.