Dubai Records 54 Pct Growth in Non-oil Trade

The volume of non-oil direct foreign trade of Dubai, the commercial and financial hub of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reached 296.6 billion dirhams (80.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2008, up 54 percent over the same period of 2007.

The figures were released by the statistics department of the Dubai World, a holding company that manages a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Dubai government.

According to the release, Dubai's exports and re-exports stood at 20.1 billion and 70.3 billion dirhams respectively in the first half of 2008, up 59.1 percent and 57.7 percent over the 2007 period.

In the same period, the overall imports of Dubai hit 206.2 billion dirhams, representing an increase of 52.7 percent compared with 135.1 billion dirhams in the 2007 period.

India was the largest trading partner of Dubai in the first half of 2008, with a volume of 54.3 billion dirhams of bilateral trade between the two parties.

This growth reflects the position Dubai now enjoys in global trade, said Saeed Al Qaizi, a director of the Dubai World.

Excellent development of infrastructure and reinforcement of its competitive potentials have helped Dubai to become an attractive economic hub for investments in diverse areas, he said. (1 U.S. dollar = 3.67 dirhams)