The third quarter of 2023 saw a substantial 68% increase in trade volume between Ajman, UAE, and Qatar.
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates discussed their bilateral relations in addition to regional and international issues on Sunday in a meeting in Doha between top officials from both countries.
The discussions took place between Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and the UAE’s National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The meeting between Doha and Abu Dhabi came as the two countries continued to strengthen their diplomatic ties after their official restoration on June 19, which marked the final step to rapprochement to end the 2017 Gulf Cooperation Council crisis.
At the time of the region’s worst diplomatic crisis, the UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in severing ties with Qatar and imposed an illegal air, land and sea blockade on the Gulf state.
The quartet accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, though Doha has consistently and vehemently denied the “baseless” allegations.
While the crisis effectively came to an end in 2021 with the signing of the Al-Ula Declaration in Saudi Arabia, ties between Qatar and the UAE have taken time to pick up pace.
On July 23, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed Dr. Sultan Salmeen Saeed Al Mansouri as Doha’s ambassador to the Emirates, marking the final steps in the resumption of ties between the neighbouring countries.
On August 14, the UAE named Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan as its ambassador to Qatar.
In yet another major development in March, the UAE withdrew its bid to host the 2026 World Bank International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in favour of Qatar.
The announcement was made in a phone call between Sheikh Tamim and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with the latter expressing his country’s support for Qatar’s candidacy file to host the IMF and World Bank meetings.
Qatar and the UAE’s economic ties have also strengthened since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations.
The third quarter of 2023 saw a substantial 68% increase in trade volume between Ajman, UAE, and Qatar.
The surge has brought the total trade value to an impressive QAR 1.88 billion ($141.86 million), marking a significant rise from QAR 1.12 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
Mohamed Ali Al-Janahi, the Executive Director of the Member Support Services Sector at the Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, confirmed this growth on December 19.
Al-Janahi highlighted the importance of Ajman’s export products in this trade relationship, notably ships, boats, iron and steel products, and mineral oils.
This uptick is part of a broader pattern of deepening economic, investment, and trade relations between the UAE and Qatar.
The non-oil trade exchange between these two nations reached new heights last year, recording a staggering growth of 121.4%. From QAR 14 billion in 2021 to QAR 31 billion in 2022.
