UAE among 14 countries in new trade bloc: The UAE joined 13 other countries yesterday to launch the Future of Investment and Trade (FIT) Partnership, according to a statement from the New Zealand government. The initiative is meant to boost investment flows and address emerging trade challenges through a rules-based approach. State news agency Wam also picked up the news.

We knew this was coming: Earlier this month, the UAE was reportedly preparing to spearhead a smaller World Trade Organization-member trade bloc focused on trade openness and international rules. The group — which was expected to launch virtually in November with 10 members — was pitched as a way to give smaller economies a stronger collective voice as US reciprocal tariffs roiled global trade and hit Asian and African countries hardest.

Who’s in: The bloc’s founding members are the UAE, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, and Uruguay.

The priorities: The bloc will focus on practical initiatives including strengthening supply chains, cutting non-tariff barriers, facilitating foreign direct investment, and adopting new trade technologies. Earlier reports also suggested it could prioritize digital trade standards such as e-signatures and electronic documents. It is designed to remain non-binding and flexible.

The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade has been on the rise: Non-oil foreign trade jumped 24% y-o-y to nearly AED 1.7 tn in 1H 2025, with exports up 44.7% to a record AED 369.5 bn, accounting for 21.4% of total non-oil trade. Trade made up the largest share of non-oil GDP in 1Q 2025 at 15.6%, with the sector now on track to hit AED 4 tn by 2027 — four years ahead of the original 2031 target.

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