Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, has visited Washington DC for talks with Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce, to discuss strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties.

Dr. Al Zeyoudi, accompanied by Yousef Al Otaiba, United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States, also led the UAE delegation of government officials and business leaders to the 10th SelectUSA Investment Summit, an event that promotes and facilitates business investment in the US, to explore expanding opportunities for the UAE private sector.

During his meeting with Secretary Raimondo, Al Zeyoudi reaffirmed the importance of economic relations with the US, which is the UAE’s third-largest global trade partner and accounts for 27 percent of America’s non-oil trade with the Arab World.

In 2023, the two nations shared bilateral trade worth $40 billion, a 20.1 percent increase on the previous year and 50.2 percent growth compared to 2019. The pair discussed areas of mutual interest, including the ongoing collaboration on renewable energy development.

At the SelectUSA Investment Summit, which is hosted by the US Department of Commerce and brings together public officials and corporate leaders, Al Zeyoudi also met Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey to discuss how UAE-based businesses, investors and family offices can either enter or expand their presence in the US market in areas of mutual interest, such as clean energy, logistics, infrastructure development and advanced technology.

The Summit’s workshops and seminars also enabled the delegation to learn about the various investment opportunities across the USA, enabling them to identify potential areas for collaboration and the means to access them.

Addressing attendees from the US business community at a session organized by the UAE-US Business Council, Al Zeyoudi said: “The United States of America remains one of our most trusted international allies and a vital trade and investment partner. Our relationship is not only strong and enduring, it continues to find productive new horizons, from collaboration in renewable energy to agri-tech and advanced technology. Our visit to the States this week is a reflection of our commitment to finding new avenues of cooperation and to building partnerships at the public- and private-sector levels that further our economic diversification ambitions. SelectUSA is not only the ideal platform to discover the opportunities in the US market but to also to showcase the dynamism of the UAE’s ecosystem, which is already home to more than 1,500 US companies.”

The UAE is the largest Arab investor in the USA with assets of more than $38.1 billion, accounting for over 50 percent of Arab investment into the country as of 2022. UAE investments in the US over the last five years have grown by $12 billion across a variety of sectors with a focus on transportation, business services and ICT. Majority UAE-owned firms employ over 24,300 US workers and help to increase US exports, contributing US$1.4 billion to the value of US goods exported in 2021.

The UAE delegation included more than 65 participants, most notably Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Hawi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Investment, Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, and Saud H. Al Nowais, UAE Commercial Attaché (Counselor) for the UAE Embassy, in addition to senior executives from government and private sector companies such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Mubadala, EDGE Group, Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ), LuLu Group International, and Emirates Aluminum.

WAM