The UAE is a party to several multilateral and bilateral trade agreements, including with GCC partner countries. As members of the GCC, the UAE has close economic ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, which means that the UAE shares a common market and customs union with these countries. Under the Agreement on the Extended Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), the United Arab Emirates has free access to free trade with Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Palestine, Syria, Libya and Yemen The United States began negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Arab Emirates in March 2005. In early 2007, the United States and the United Arab Emirates announced that they would not be able to conclude negotiations on a free trade agreement within the current timeframe for the trade promotion authority, but that both sides remained committed to concluding negotiations on the free trade agreement at a later date. No further negotiations on a free trade agreement have taken place. The Arab League has long tried to promote trade and economic cooperation among its member states, with several initiatives taken in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1981, an agreement was signed to facilitate and promote intra-Arab trade, but it had little effect. The agreement aims to create a free trade area between Member States and to increase intra-EU trade, on the one hand, and with the European Union, on the other. It also aims to improve industrial integration between Arab Mediterranean countries through the implementation of pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin and the application of the principle of cumulation of origin. This will increase Member States` export capacity to the EU market and increase their attractiveness for more foreign and European direct investment. The Agadir Agreement establishing a free trade area among the Arab Mediterranean States was signed on 25 February 2004 in Rabat, Morocco. [3] The agreement aimed to establish free trade between Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco, which was seen as the potential first step in the formation of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area under the Barcelona Process.
[4] Describes the bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to which this country has acceded, including with the United States. Contains websites and other resources where U.S. companies can learn more about how to use these agreements. In 2012, as a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the United Arab Emirates became a party to the United States-GCC Framework Agreement on Trade, Economy, Investment and Technical Cooperation. In 2014, the UAE ratified this agreement by Federal Decree No. 86. Since 2012, the United States and the United Arab Emirates have held several iterations of the U.S.-UAE Economic Policy Dialogue, which provides a platform for cooperation on economic issues and addresses irritations for bilateral trade relations. This would be achieved through a 10 per cent annual reduction in tariffs and the gradual elimination of trade barriers. Eighteen of the 22 States of the Arab League signed the agreement, which entered into force on 1 January 1998.
USTR continued to work with business partners in the region to implement the MEFTA initiative. The United States and the United Arab Emirates decided in early 2007 that the timetable was not conducive to the conclusion of bilateral negotiations on a free trade agreement and have since sought to advance the improvement of trade and investment through a “TIFA Plus” process. the first meeting of this new format was held in June 2007. In addition, the UAE has signed free trade agreements with Singapore (through the CCG Agreement with the nation) and New Zealand and has held talks to conclude similar agreements with the European Union, Japan, Australia, South Korea, India, Brazil, China, Argentina, Pakistan, Paraguay, Turkey and Uruguay. In addition, it has concluded several agreements on the protection and promotion of investments and the prevention of double taxation. According to the Federal Customs Authority of the United Arab Emirates (FCA), the United Arab Emirates has also signed agreements with the following countries: Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2006), Republic of Algeria (2007), Republic of Azerbaijan (2011), Republic of India (2012), Republic of Kazakhstan (2012), Republic of Argentina (2013), Republic of Armenia (2013), Republic of Maldives (2014), Republic of South Korea (2015) and Kingdom of the Netherlands (2015). In June 2009, the GCC signed a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (ETFA) (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), which was implemented in July 2015. The Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) is a pan-Arab free trade area established in 1997. It was founded by 14 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. [5] [6] The creation of THE ALEAP followed the adoption of the “Agreement on the Facilitation and Development of Trade among Arab Countries” (1981) by the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League (ETUC) and the approval of the “Agreement on the Greater Arab Free Trade Area” (1997) by seventeen member states of the Arab League at a summit in Amman, in Jordan.
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