Monday 27th November,2023 was a historical day and another important mile stone for Pakistan UAE brotherly and friendly relations when two countries signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to investment cooperation that will unlock, “Multi-Billion dollars” in funding from the Middle East. This historical development came in a meeting between caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi during the former’s week-ling trip to the Middle East. These MoUs envisage in the sectors of Energy, Port Operations, Wastewater Treatment, Food Security, Logistics. Minerals, Banking and Financial Services and will open new vistas and door of opportunities for mutual cooperation and will take Pakistan and United Arab Emirates relations to a new height. This initiave will also pave the way in implementation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).
This is a good news for the whole nation and Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar rightly called it a historic one. It is also beginning a new economic partnership between UAE and Pakistan which would lead towards strategic partnership in economic, political and defence fronts. The UAE is home to 1.8 million talented, hardworking skilled, semiskilled and unskilled Pakistanis who are working day and night for the progress. development and prosperity of brother country UAE and contributing with valuable remittances for the support of Pakistani economy.
Pakistan supports peace, stability, justice and cooperation in the region and supports for a just and durable solution to the Palestinian question anchored in international law and in line with relevant United Nations and Organization of Islamic Cooperation resolutions.
Pakistan and UAE reaffirmed their resolve to further strengthen economic and strategic cooperation and underlined that Pakistan and UAE had, “deep rooted fraternal and historical ties which had stood the test of time”.
Pakistan and United Arab Emirates are two friends, brother Islamic countries; both countries people can hear the voice of their heartbeats which sing the songs of strong ties, excellent relations, and wide range of cooperation between two countries, covering areas of economic cooperation, trade, investment, defence, culture, religion, education etc. Both countries leadership trust each other on and join hands on difficult times whenever faced by any one of them. This friendship is time tested, deep rooted and in recent times it reached to new height which is a good omen for the region.
UAE is a country in Western Asia at the Southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east, and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing maritime borders with Qatar to the west, and Iran to the north. It is a federation of seven Emirates consisting of Abu Dhabi (which is the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Rasul Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. About 10% 1.8 million of its population consists of Pakistani diaspora who are rendering valuable services for brother country. Their contribution in development, progress and prosperity of UAE is acknowledged both by people and leadership of UAE.
The area of UAE is 83,600 sq km and population is around 10 million out of 1.50 million are Emiratis and about 8.50 million are expatriates. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language of UAE. UAE’s oil reserves are the seventh largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the world’s 17th largest.
UAE economy is the most diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, while its most populous city Dubai is an important global city and an international aviation and maritime trade hub. The UAE government does not levy income tax although there is a system of corporate tax in place and value added tax was established in 2018 at 5% only.
The president of United Arab Emirates is the head of the state. Officially he is elected every five years by the federal supreme council, but because of the ruler of Abu Dhabi customarily also holds the presidency of the UAE.
UAE is the regional and Middle East power. It is an active and vibrant member of UNO, The Arab League, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OPEC and the Gulf Cooperation council.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan was ruler of Abu Dhabi for 38 years. He was the founding father and the principal driving force behind the formation of the United Arab Emirates. He was the first president of UAE.
Economy
UAE has the second largest economy in the GCC. Since 1971 to 2013 its economy had grown 231 times to 1.45 trillion Arab emirates dinars. UAE is the 26th best nation in the world for doing business based on its economy and regulatory environment, ranked by the doing business report 2017 published by the World Bank. Besides oil ,tourism acts as growth sector for the entire UAE economy. Dubai is the top tourism destination in the Middle East. According to master card Annual Destination cities Index, Dubai is the 5th most popular destination in the world. Dubai holds up to 66% of UAE tourism economy. More than 15 million tourists annually, average 1.25 million monthly and about 50, 000 tourists on daily average basis visit there. The UAE has the most advanced and developed infrastructure in the region. UAE is scheduled to host 2019 AFC Asian cup. Dubai knowledge Village Park is a human resource management, professional learning and educational free trade zones campus in the city of Dubai. UAE provides facilities for corporate training and learning institution to operate with 100% foreign ownership and there are about four hundred companies and institutions operating there. UAE has an open economy with a high per capita income and sizeable trade surplus. Successful efforts at economic diversifications have reduced from oil and gas sector and now real estate and tourism encompass significant part of economy. Tourism is one of the biggest non-oil sources of revenue in the UAE, with some of world’s most luxurious hotels being based in UAE, a massive construction boom, an expanding manufacturing base, and thriving service sector are helping the UAE diversify its economy. There are about $ 350 billion worth of construction projects.
Real Estate projects
Ø Burj Khalifa
Ø Saddiyat Island
Ø The world, the Palms
Ø Dubai Miracle
Ø Masdar city (Zero carbon Zero waste)
Masdar city
Masdar city hosts the headquarters of the international renewable energy Agency. The city is designed to be a hub of cleansed companies. Final completion is expected in 2030.
Dhabi international financial Centre.
It is a specialized Economic Zone having zero tax on corporate income and profit.
Economic Statistics
GDP (PPP 2023) $ 895.26 billion
Per Capita (PPP) $ 88,961
GDP (Nominal) $ billion $ 509.18
GDP Per Capita (Nominal): US$ 50,602
Agriculture products dates, vegetables, watermelon, poultry
Industries petroleum, petrochemicals, aluminum,
Cement, fertilizers
Exports $ 308.5 bn
Export partners GCC 15%, India 14%, japan 8.3%, china
7.7%
Export commodities: Crude Oil, natural gas and others, dry fruits,
dates
Imports USD$ $ 229.2 bn
Import Partners China 17.3 %, EU 12.11%, India 9.4 % Import commodities: Machinery and transport equipment, Defence
equipment
UAE is at a strategic location slightly south of the strait of Hormez, a vital transit point for world crude oil. UAE has extensive diplomatic and commercial relations with other countries. It plays a significant role in UNO, OPEC, and GCC. It gives about $1.5 billion aid mostly to Arab and Muslims. Pakistan was the first country to recognize UAE.
PAKISTAN UAE TRADE STATISTICS
USD billion
Year Exports imports Balance of trade Total export of Pakistan % in total exports Total import of Pakistan % in total imports
2012 2.879 7.21 -5.976 24.614 11.7 43.81 17.00
2013 1.775 7.752 -5.976 25.121 7.1 43.77 17.7
2014 1.324 7.077 -5.753 24.72 5.4 47.754 14.9
2015 0.899 5.735 -4.836 22.089 4.1 43.99 13.0
2016 0.784 6.202 -5.417 20.534 3.8 46.99 13.2
2017 0.869 7.524 -6.655 21.88 4.0 57.44 13.1
2018 0.87 7.535 --7.712
23.77 4.2 60.39 14.1
2019 1.18 8.70 -5.161 23.81 5 60.369 14.1
2020 1.096 4.47 -3.377 22.24 4.9 45.77 9.8
2021 1.16 7.34 -6.177 28.69 4.00 72.47 10.1
Pakistan UAE relations date back to the UAE’s formation in 1971, and have since evolved into wide range of cooperation in various fields. UAE has been appreciative of Pakistan’s contribution to the evolution of key institutes in the Emirates such as armed forces, police, health and education, and has reciprocated in the same friendly manner to the full satisfaction of Pakistan.
Frequent exchange of high-level visits and regular bilateral consultations between two countries are effects of the fact that Pakistan and UAE have laid mutually beneficial relations.
We hope that with the passage of time their relations will further move forward and both countries will have strategic alliance particularly in economic development, science and technology, media exchange and in defence sectors.