Dubai: Continuing the upward trend, Dubai's foreign trade grew in the first quarter (Q1) of 2014 with India trailing China as the second largest trading partner of the emirates city.
In Q1 2014, Dubai's foreign trade amounted to dirham 323 billion, of which 201.4 billion were imports, 26.5 billion exports and 94.4 billion re-exports.
Direct trade contributed 61 percent of total foreign trade, valued at dirham 196.5 billion, while free zones contributed 38percent, amounting to 122 billion, and the customs warehouses made up 1 percent with a value of 4.3 billion.
China topped the list of Dubai's trading partners in the first quarter of 2014, with a trading value of dirham 38.5 billion, compared to 30.3 billion in the first quarter of 2013, reflecting a growth rate of 27 percent.
China-Dubai trade constitutes 12 percent of the Emirates overall foreign trade, keeping pace with the salient boom in China's trade, surpassing other economic forces in the volume of foreign trade.
India came in second with an 8 percent of Dubai's total foreign trade, equivalent to dirham 26.3 billion. The US followed in the third place with 20.1 billion, that is 6 percent of the total foreign trade volume.
The fourth place was equally shared by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, each at dirham 13.2 billion, a 4 percent share of the total for each.
"The recorded foreign trade during the first quarter of 2014 portrays Dubai's capability of adapting to all changes within the international trade variables; which is attributed to the wide array of markets covered by Dubai foreign trade, spanning the majority of international commodities from across the whole world," Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs said.
He said the city has continued to maintain its capacity towards expansion and trade growth due to flexible commercial environment, which boosts the position of Dubai as global and regional premier trading hub.
Over the first quarter of 2014, the emirate has been a strong competitor with key world trade powers such as China, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Japan, he said.
