The Complete Financial Partnership Settlement (CEPA) between the UAE and Australia has formally come into drive, marking a significant step in advancing financial collaboration between the 2 nations.
The settlement is anticipated to unlock vital commerce and funding alternatives throughout a variety of sectors by decreasing obstacles, enhancing market entry for items and companies, and offering a framework for deeper non-public sector collaboration.
With the CEPA ratified and now in drive, annual bilateral commerce is forecast to extend from $4.2bn in 2024 to over $10bn by 2032.
UAE-Australia commerce
Commerce momentum is already robust: within the first half of 2025, the United Arab Emirates’ non-oil overseas commerce with Australia reached $3.03bn, a 33.4 per cent year-on-year improve.
Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of International Commerce, stated: “The entry into drive of the UAE-Australia CEPA marks a pivotal step in enhancing our financial partnership and can result in new pathways for collaboration and development.”
He added that the settlement considerably strengthens bilateral commerce relations and opens doorways for funding in precedence sectors reminiscent of renewable power, infrastructure, meals safety, and know-how.
The United Arab Emirates is Australia’s main commerce accomplice within the Center East and its twentieth largest accomplice globally. The CEPA is Australia’s first commerce settlement with a rustic within the Center East and North Africa (MENA) area, underscoring its significance.
Bilateral funding between the 2 nations already stands at round $14bn, with greater than 300 Australian corporations working within the UAE throughout varied sectors.
The UAE’s CEPA programme is a cornerstone of its financial technique, which goals to succeed in $1tn in whole commerce worth by 2031 and double the dimensions of the financial system to exceed $800bn by the identical yr.
The UAE-Australia settlement is amongst 31 CEPAs concluded thus far, extending market entry for United Arab Emirates companies to key international companions and supporting the nation’s long-term financial diversification targets.