ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working to sign a ‘Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’ with Pakistan, a UAE diplomat said on Thursday, adding that it would create opportunities to enhance bilateral trade and exports between both countries.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trade partner after China and the United States. It is also viewed as an ideal export destination by policymakers in the South Asian country due to its geographical proximity which reduces transportation and freight costs and facilitates commercial exchanges.
The Gulf country is also home to an estimated 1.5 million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances for the South Asian nation, after Saudi Arabia.
“The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was working to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Pakistan that would create many new opportunities for the entrepreneurs of both countries to promote bilateral trade and exports,” Rashid Abdul Rehman Al Ali, deputy head of Mission of the UAE embassy, told members of the Pakistani business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).
According to a press release issued by the ICCI, Ali said he was “quite optimistic” about Pakistan’s economic future, given that the South Asian country was receiving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, and Qatar.
The diplomat said that the UAE wanted to further promote investment with Pakistan with a focus on agriculture, textiles, marble & tiles, gemstone, mining, and petroleum. Ali called for enhancing government-to-government and business-to-business relations between both countries.
“He said that Pakistan was the most favorable country for tourism and that an improved tourism infrastructure would attract more tourists,” the ICCI said.
