The Emirates will become a logistics hub for the North-South MTK

The negotiations were concluded on 17 December in a joint communiqué by the Minister of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Andrei Slepnev, and the State Minister for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, Tani bin Ahmed Al Zeyudi. This could give new impetus to the development of the international North-South transport corridor.

«EAEU actively forms a network of economic partnerships. The agreement with the UAE is an important milestone, given the role of the country as a global hub in the region. The agreement will give additional impetus to trade between our states, which is already showing unprecedented growth, and also create a systemic basis for the development of cooperative ties», - said Andrei Slepnev.

The UAE and the EAEU are developing a fruitful relationship based on a common commitment to long-term growth and economic diversification. The conclusion of negotiations on the conclusion of an economic partnership agreement will deepen our interaction and allow us to develop numerous synergies», said Tani bin Ahmed Al Zeyudi.

When the economic partnership agreement enters into force, more than 90% of intra-trade and over 85% of commodity trade will be covered by preferential treatment. The document must undergo an internal harmonization process before being signed.

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustine named one of the priorities of the EAEU strengthening external relations and transport interconnectivity, including through improving the efficiency of logistics chains, as well as the promotion of goods from the EAEU to global markets. Cooperation with the UAE can play an important role in achieving these goals. 

In particular, the United Arab Emirates is interested in participating in the North-South transport corridor project. This was the subject of a speech by Alexei Georgiev, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, during the Petersburg Economic Forum.  «This is extremely important for the Emirates to be not only our partner in bilateral trade, but also an important investment hub for promoting Russian or jointly produced products on third country markets», he said. 

Also, the prospects of cooperation between EAEU and UAE in the context of development of the North-South MTK were discussed at a meeting of the Minister for Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission Arzybek Kozhoshev with the general director of the Abu-Group of companiesDhabi Ports by Mohammed Jouma Al Shamisi last October in Abu Dhabi.

Cooperation with the UAE is of particular interest to Russia. Dubai has become the financial capital of Russian foreign business, it is the center of commercial activity of the Russian Federation in the Persian Gulf region, hence conveniently expand the interaction with South Asia and Africa, explains expert of the Caspian Institute of Strategic Studies Alexander Karavayev. According to the analyst, the Russian presence in the UAE can be called the southern economic base of the MTK North-South region.

«Trade turnover with Russia reached $11 billion, showing a three-fold increase in just a couple of years. In the UAE, there are more than 30 free economic zones of various kinds. In the Gulf region as a whole, there are prerequisites for the expansion of projects of Russian companies in the field of mechanical engineering, APC and pharmaceuticals» - says Alexander Karavayev. 

Any agreements on strategic economic partnership is a step in the development of MTK North-South and increase of cargo flow in multimodal communication with the EAEU countries, reported «1520 International» in JSC «RZD Logistics». It is used to roll the east branch of the corridor. 

In the past two years, the transit time of goods from central Russia to Mumbaai has been reduced to 26 days, noted the other day by the company’s CEO Oleg Poleev.

For full start-up and effective work of MTK North-South, the consolidation of efforts of all participants in the process is necessary. We see the main task for further development of the corridor in building effective interaction between them», - say in the company.