In a bold strategic move to cement its position as a global commerce powerhouse, the United Arab Emirates on Thursday launched the UAE Global Centre of Trade programme, an ambitious international economic initiative designed to attract the world’s top one thousand companies specializing in international trade. The programme, announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, represents a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the nation’s commanding position in foreign trade and establish the Emirates as an indispensable hub on global trade routes.
“We launched an international economic programme to strengthen the UAE’s global position in foreign trade,” Sheikh Mohammed stated via his X account. “The programme aims to attract the world’s top one thousand companies specialising in international trade, launch a digital gateway linking thousands of UAE exporting companies to global markets, and create greater opportunities and new markets for their products and exports. The initiative reinforces the UAE’s position as a key hub on international trade routes.”
The programme, announced in Dubai and spearheaded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, builds upon the UAE’s extraordinary non-oil trade growth, which reached two point six seven trillion dirhams in the first nine months of twenty twenty-five, marking a twenty-four point six percent increase year-on-year. This growth trajectory far outpaces the global average and demonstrates the effectiveness of the UAE’s strategic positioning and economic policies.
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Record Trade Performance Underp
ins New Initiative
The launch of the UAE Global Centre of Trade programme comes at a moment when the Emirates continues to achieve historic milestones in its non-oil foreign trade. In the first nine months of twenty twenty-five, non-oil trade reached two point six seven trillion dirhams, representing a twenty-four point six percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year. The UAE’s non-oil exports during this period reached five hundred seventy-nine point four billion dirhams, while re-exports totaled five hundred ninety-seven point seven billion dirhams, demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the nation’s trade activities.
These figures represent more than just impressive statistics—they reflect a fundamental transformation of the UAE’s economic structure and its evolution into one of the world’s most dynamic trading nations. The UAE’s non-oil exports grew by more than forty-two point six percent during the first nine months of twenty twenty-five compared to the same period in twenty twenty-four, a growth rate that vastly exceeds that of most developed and emerging economies. This exceptional performance positions the Emirates as a critical node in evolving global trade networks and supply chains.
The strategic importance of this growth becomes even more apparent when considered in the context of global trade patterns. While the average growth of international trade during the first half of twenty twenty-five was approximately one point seven five percent, the UAE achieved growth rates more than fourteen times higher, demonstrating the effectiveness of its trade facilitation infrastructure, strategic location, and business-friendly regulatory environment.
Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi: Leveraging Strategic Position
Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, articulated the programme’s strategic vision and its alignment with the UAE leadership’s economic priorities. “The initiatives under the UAE Global Centre of Trade programme will ensure we capture an ever-increasing share of international commerce, whether that’s through offering new horizons for UAE exporters or providing a raft of benefits for companies seeking a platform for international expansion,” Al Zeyoudi explained.
The Minister emphasized that the programme reflects the leadership’s fundamental belief that trade serves as a key engine of economic development, diversification, and sustainable growth. “By rolling out new tools to simplify exports, utilizing AI to identify new markets and high-potential sectors, promoting the excellence of our private sector across the world, and educating our businesses and entrepreneurs on the opportunities provided by our foreign trade network, we can better leverage our strategic position at a global crossroads,” Al Zeyoudi stated. “This is a moment for the UAE to restate the case for global trade and to demonstrate its ability to power the next stage of prosperity.”
The Minister’s comments underscore the comprehensive nature of the initiative, which extends far beyond simple trade promotion to encompass capacity building, technological innovation, market intelligence, and the systematic development of the UAE’s position as an indispensable facilitator of international commerce. The programme positions the Emirates not merely as a participant in global trade but as an architect of new trade routes, partnerships, and commercial networks.
Eight Comprehensive Initiatives Driving Transformation
The UAE Global Centre of Trade comprises eight distinct but interconnected initiatives, each designed to address specific aspects of trade development and international commerce facilitation. Together, these initiatives form a comprehensive ecosystem supporting exporters, attracting foreign investment, developing human capital, and leveraging cutting-edge technology to optimize trade flows.
1. Attracting International Trading Companies
The flagship initiative targets one thousand new global trading firms through sophisticated analytics that identify market opportunities, demand trends, and high-potential sectors. The programme places particular emphasis on countries with which the UAE has concluded Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs), leveraging these preferential trade arrangements to create compelling value propositions for international companies.
The initiative employs advanced trade analytics to identify high-demand goods in global markets, monitor emerging sectors in each CEPA partner nation, and track leading global export and re-export companies. By outlining the competitive advantages of operating in the UAE—including strategic location, world-class infrastructure, efficient customs procedures, and access to rapidly growing regional markets—the programme aims to convince these companies to establish their headquarters or major regional operations in the Emirates.
Strategic partners in this initiative include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Investment, the UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, local economic departments, Abu Dhabi Ports Group, and DP World. This multi-stakeholder approach ensures comprehensive support for incoming companies and seamless coordination across federal and local government entities.
2. UAE Export Portal
The second initiative involves developing an integrated digital platform that combines analysis, knowledge, and opportunities to enable UAE exporters to connect with global markets more quickly and efficiently. This digital gateway will provide customs guidance, detailed CEPA information, AI-based market insights, and direct access to verified international buyers.
The portal represents a significant technological investment in trade facilitation, offering UAE companies—particularly small and medium enterprises that may lack dedicated international trade departments—sophisticated market intelligence and export support services previously available only to large multinational corporations. By democratizing access to global markets and providing real-time information on trade opportunities, regulatory requirements, and market conditions, the portal aims to dramatically expand the number of UAE companies engaged in international trade.
3. Ready2Trade Training Programme
The Ready2Trade initiative delivers comprehensive training through both online and offline modules, aiming to build capacity for more than ten thousand companies in the UAE to compete globally. The programme offers advanced and introductory modules covering global sales strategies, export procedures, compliance requirements, documentation standards, and risk management.
This educational component addresses a critical gap in many companies’ capabilities—while UAE businesses may produce excellent products or services, they often lack the specialized knowledge required to navigate complex international trade regulations, payment mechanisms, logistics arrangements, and market entry strategies. By systematically building this expertise across thousands of companies, the programme aims to create a deep bench of internationally competitive UAE businesses capable of seizing global opportunities.
4. UAE Trade Days
This initiative involves organizing a series of promotional events in select countries to showcase UAE products and services while developing sustainable customer-buyer networks. These events create face-to-face connections between UAE exporters and international importers, facilitating the trust-building and relationship development essential for long-term commercial partnerships.
Trade Days will be strategically scheduled in markets identified through AI-driven analytics as offering the highest potential for UAE products, with particular focus on CEPA partner nations where tariff advantages and simplified procedures create particularly favorable conditions for UAE exports. These events will showcase the diversity and quality of UAE-manufactured goods, positioning the Emirates as a source of high-value products rather than merely a re-export hub.
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5. UAE International Trade Expo
The programme includes hosting a major global event within the UAE, expected to attract six hundred companies from fifty countries and draw one hundred thousand visitors. This exposition will create an international platform for interaction between importers and exporters, between companies, governments, and institutions, positioning the UAE as not just a participant in global trade but as a convenor and facilitator of international commerce.
The expo will showcase the UAE’s trade capabilities, infrastructure, and business environment to a global audience, while also providing UAE companies with unprecedented access to international buyers, investors, and strategic partners. By hosting this event domestically, the UAE leverages its world-class exhibition facilities and hospitality infrastructure to demonstrate concretely why the Emirates represents an ideal base for international trade operations.
6. UAE Traders of the Future Programme
This initiative focuses on developing Emirati human capital in international trade, aiming to graduate one hundred qualified Emirati traders annually. The programme will develop skills and confidence needed to compete globally, covering areas including trade finance, risk management, negotiation, market analysis, supply chain management, and cross-cultural business communication.
By systematically developing a cadre of Emirati trade professionals, the programme ensures that UAE nationals can occupy leadership positions in the country’s growing international trade sector. This initiative reflects the broader national priority of creating sustainable, high-quality employment opportunities for citizens in strategic sectors while building institutional knowledge that will serve the UAE for generations.
7. Young Traders Programme
Recognizing that long-term success requires early engagement, this initiative introduces high school and university students to international trade through workshops, field visits, and interactive learning experiences. By exposing young Emiratis to trade opportunities and career paths early in their educational journey, the programme aims to cultivate interest in trade careers and develop a pipeline of talent that can sustain the UAE’s trade ambitions for decades to come.
The programme will provide practical exposure to port operations, free zones, customs procedures, logistics companies, and trading firms, demystifying international trade and making it tangible and accessible to young people considering their career options. This grassroots approach to talent development ensures that the UAE’s trade sector will have access to motivated, knowledgeable professionals well into the future.
8. Leveraging AI to Optimize Foreign Trade
Perhaps the most technologically ambitious component, this initiative involves deploying fifteen AI-driven systems to support forecasting, supply chain planning, and risk management by analyzing millions of data points from customs, ports, and global markets. These systems will identify emerging opportunities, predict demand patterns, optimize logistics routes, assess geopolitical risks, and provide real-time intelligence to both government policymakers and private sector traders.
The application of artificial intelligence to trade facilitation represents a significant competitive advantage, enabling the UAE to respond more quickly to changing market conditions, identify opportunities before competitors, and provide unprecedented levels of support and guidance to exporters. By processing vast quantities of data from multiple sources—including shipping manifests, customs declarations, international price indices, weather patterns, political developments, and economic indicators—these AI systems will provide insights impossible to derive through traditional analytical methods.
The CEPA Foundation: Expanding Trade Networks
The UAE’s aggressive pursuit of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements provides the foundation upon which the Global Centre of Trade builds. The Emirates has concluded twenty-seven CEPAs with countries and international blocs, with ten of these agreements—including those with India, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, Cambodia, Georgia, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Serbia, and Jordan—already implemented and operational.
These agreements have already demonstrated substantial impact. CEPAs contributed one hundred thirty-five billion dirhams to the UAE’s non-oil trade with partner nations in twenty twenty-four, representing an increase of forty-two percent compared to the previous year. Trade with CEPA partners has grown at rates far exceeding the UAE’s already impressive overall trade growth, validating the strategic focus on these preferential arrangements.
The UAE continues to expand its CEPA network, with negotiations ongoing with major economies including Japan and the European Union. Minister Al Zeyoudi recently announced that negotiations with Japan and the EU have reached advanced stages, with the second round of talks scheduled for December. Success in concluding these agreements would dramatically expand the UAE’s preferential access to some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated markets.
The CEPA strategy reflects sophisticated understanding of contemporary trade dynamics. Rather than relying solely on multilateral frameworks that move slowly and often produce lowest-common-denominator outcomes, the UAE has pursued bilateral and regional agreements that can be negotiated more quickly and tailored to maximize mutual benefits. This approach has enabled the Emirates to build a comprehensive network of preferential trade relationships spanning Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Strategic Timing and Global Context
The launch of the UAE Global Centre of Trade comes at a particularly opportune moment in global economic evolution. As supply chains undergo fundamental restructuring in response to geopolitical tensions, technological change, and sustainability imperatives, countries and companies are reassessing their trade relationships and logistics networks. The UAE’s combination of political stability, strategic location, world-class infrastructure, and increasingly sophisticated trade facilitation capabilities positions it to capture a significant share of these shifting trade flows.
The programme also reflects recognition that the future of trade will be increasingly digital, data-driven, and dependent on sophisticated analytics. By investing heavily in AI systems, digital platforms, and technological infrastructure, the UAE is positioning itself not just as a physical trade hub but as a digital facilitator of global commerce. This dual emphasis on physical and digital infrastructure creates synergies that enhance the Emirates’ value proposition to international traders.
Furthermore, the focus on human capital development through multiple training initiatives demonstrates understanding that sustainable competitive advantage in trade facilitation requires not just infrastructure and technology but also skilled professionals who can navigate complex international commercial environments. By systematically developing trade expertise among both established businesses and young Emiratis, the programme builds capabilities that will serve the UAE for decades.
Economic Diversification and National Vision
The UAE Global Centre of Trade aligns closely with the broader national economic vision articulated in the “We the UAE twenty thirty-one” strategy, which aims to double GDP to three trillion dirhams and boost non-oil exports to eight hundred billion dirhams by twenty thirty-one. The non-oil sector now contributes seventy-seven point five percent to the UAE’s GDP, with the target of reaching eighty percent by twenty thirty-one now expected to be achieved ahead of schedule.
This economic diversification represents one of the most successful transformations of any oil-dependent economy, demonstrating that with strategic planning, substantial investment, and consistent policy execution, hydrocarbon-rich nations can build robust, diversified economies capable of competing globally across multiple sectors. The UAE’s evolution from an oil-dependent economy to a diversified trading, financial, tourism, and technology hub provides a template for other nations seeking similar transitions.
The trade sector plays a central role in this diversification strategy. Unlike oil production, which is constrained by geology and OPEC quotas, trade has virtually unlimited growth potential constrained only by the UAE’s ability to facilitate transactions efficiently, provide value-added services, and maintain the political stability and business-friendly environment that attracts international companies. By systematically addressing each of these factors through initiatives like the Global Centre of Trade, the UAE creates sustainable foundations for long-term economic growth.
Implementation and Stakeholder Coordination
The UAE Global Centre of Trade will be implemented through partnership among multiple federal and local government entities, national institutions, and private sector companies. This multi-stakeholder approach ensures comprehensive support, avoids bureaucratic duplication, and leverages the specialized expertise and capabilities of different organizations.
Key partners include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which facilitates diplomatic engagement and international agreements; the Ministry of Investment, which attracts foreign capital and companies; the UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which represent private sector interests; local economic departments, which implement initiatives at the emirate level; and logistics giants Abu Dhabi Ports Group and DP World, which provide the physical infrastructure enabling trade flows.
This coordination model reflects mature understanding that effective trade facilitation requires seamless cooperation across multiple domains—diplomatic, regulatory, infrastructural, financial, and operational. By bringing together all relevant stakeholders from the programme’s inception, the UAE maximizes the likelihood of efficient implementation and minimizes the risks of bureaucratic obstacles or conflicting priorities undermining the initiative’s objectives.
Conclusion: Positioning for the Future of Global Commerce
The UAE Global Centre of Trade represents far more than a collection of trade promotion initiatives—it embodies a comprehensive vision for the Emirates’ role in twenty-first-century global commerce. By simultaneously attracting international trading companies, empowering domestic exporters, developing human capital, leveraging cutting-edge technology, and building on an expanding network of preferential trade agreements, the programme creates multiple reinforcing advantages that compound over time.
The initiative’s ambitious scope—targeting one thousand of the world’s leading trading companies, training ten thousand businesses, graduating one hundred traders annually, and deploying fifteen AI systems—reflects confidence born of consistent success. The UAE’s trade performance over recent years has validated its strategic approach, and the Global Centre of Trade accelerates and systematizes the factors driving this success.
As global trade patterns continue evolving in response to technological change, geopolitical realignments, and sustainability imperatives, the UAE’s strategic position strengthens. The Emirates offers political stability in an uncertain region, world-class infrastructure in a geography where this remains rare, efficient business processes in jurisdictions often characterized by bureaucracy, and increasingly sophisticated trade facilitation capabilities backed by substantial technological investment.
For companies evaluating where to base their international trade operations, the value proposition becomes increasingly compelling. The UAE offers not just excellent logistics infrastructure and strategic location but now also comprehensive support services, preferential access to major markets through CEPAs, sophisticated market intelligence through AI-driven systems, and a clear commitment from national leadership to prioritizing trade facilitation and economic openness.
The success of the UAE Global Centre of Trade will ultimately be measured not just in the number of companies attracted or exporters trained but in the Emirates’ evolving position in global trade networks. If the programme achieves its objectives, the UAE will cement its status not merely as a regional trade hub but as an indispensable node in global commerce—a place where East meets West, where physical and digital trade converge, and where the future of international business takes shape. The announcement represents a decisive step toward realizing this ambitious vision, backed by the resources, commitment, and track record necessary to transform aspiration into reality.
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By: Montel Kamau
Serrari Financial Analyst
21st November, 2025
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