Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit is scheduled to lead delegations from the government and private sector to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during Feb 6-7, with a goal to raise Thai exports to the UAE by up to 30 billion baht this year.
According to Mr Jurin, during the two-day visit he is scheduled to meet Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, to discuss how to increase bilateral trade and the possibility of forging a free trade agreement between the two nations.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a Thailand-UAE business council is expected to be signed to facilitate negotiations between the business sectors of the two countries, he said.
Thai businesses in the logistics and transport sector are also slated to sign an MoU on logistics cooperation with Dubai World, a global air freight network with 78 ports and 240 airports around the world.
Business-matching events and trade exhibitions for Thai products are scheduled to showcase local items to potential UAE buyers.
According to Mr Jurin, the Commerce Ministry set an UAE export growth target of 25% to 148 billion baht in 2023, up from 118 billion last year.
Important export products to the UAE include automobiles, air conditioners, jewellery, wood and wooden products, rubber products, canned and processed seafood, and aluminium products.
Important import products from the UAE are crude oil, refined oil, natural gas, metal ores, metal scraps and products, jewellery and gems, silver bars and gold, chemicals, iron, steel and steel products, tobacco products, machinery and components, and metal products.
The UAE economy is the fifth-largest in the region after Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Israel, with a GDP of $503 billion in 2022.
The UAE economy is heavily reliant on revenues from petroleum and natural gas, with total exports of both contributing 30% of GDP.
The International Monetary Fund projected UAE’s economic growth to increase 5% in 2022, compared with 3.8% in 2021.