UAE's Inclusion In BRICS Not To Impact Ties With The West, Says Economy Minister

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s inclusion in the BRICS group won't impact the country's relations with the West, as per Economy Minister, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.

The economy minister said on Monday that "Brics membership is huge for the UAE," during a television interview, The National News reported. "That will add a lot as well to the UAE's multilateralism support to the world."

He went on to explain that the UAE is looking forward to maintaining "peace and prosperity and with that comes economy and trade," adding that "joining BRICS will add a lot as well to the UAE's multilateralism support to the world."

Minister Al Marri further shared that the UAE has always been a global hub as the country focuses on global trade.

"For CEPA with India, Indonesia, and others, we are going global south," he added. "That is another important aspect we are focusing on. Anyone connected with the UAE on bilateral trade, we look at how to grow trade by 10 folds."

He emphasized that the UAE is focusing on growth with the United States, noting that both countries have grown their trade to $23 billion (in 2021) as against $20 billion in the previous year.

"There is a lot of focus on the West as well. The UAE is always focusing on how we can bring the world together," he said. "We are more into inclusiveness of global trade market and not decisiveness of trade markets."

Furthermore, the minister noted that the country wants to grow its GDP by seven percent in 2023 as it is "very important" for the UAE as it doubles down on trade.

"In the last couple of years, we opened 100 percent ownership that gave freedom to own companies in the mainland. The number of new companies has grown by 275,000 in just one year. We betted on doubling down on CEPA and that took us to $2 trillion trade for the first time and we want to go on higher."

He shared that in the last couple of years, the UAE allowed 100 percent ownership, which gave freedom to own companies in the mainland. Within one year, the number of new companies has grown by 2,75,000.

"We betted on doubling down on CEPA and that took us to $2 trillion trade for the first time and we want to go on higher," Minister Al Marri added.

It was announced last week during the 15th BRICS summit that UAE will become a member of the group alongside five other countries including Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia from January 2024 onwards.

BRICS currently consists of five members -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.