UAE No.4 in 'trading across borders'

Dubai Trade, the cross-border trade facilitator, has welcomed the ‘Doing Business  2014’ report released by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

According to the report, the UAE has moved to number 4 globally in the "Trading Across Borders" category up from its 5th rank in 2013.  The UAE has retained its rank as the first country in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in the same category.

The UAE has jumped three slots this year to number 23 in the world in the Ease of Doing Business Report 2014,  out of 189 economies ranked for this year’s report. The UAE tops the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in five of the 10 parameters on which the Ease of Doing Business report ranks the economies. The UAE is the best place in the world in [ease of] paying taxes and fourth in getting electricity, registering property, and trading across borders, while it is the fifth best globally in terms of dealing with construction permits heading the countries competing to host Expo 2020.
 
Jamal Majid bin Thaniah, Chairman, Dubai Trade, welcomed the report and said: "The UAE’s high ranking in this prestigious international report which evaluates 189 economies across the globe, is another clear indication that we are on the right track to achieving the goal set by our prudent leadership to be one of the best countries in the world by 2021."

He praised the role Dubai Trade plays in positioning the UAE as an international trading hub by offering a host of electronic and smart services to ease international trade. These measures have contributed in facilitating trade procedures and made it less expensive compared to developed countries.

Currently in its 11th edition, the Doing Business report compares business regulations in 189 economies. It measures and tracks government regulations for small and medium-size enterprises affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

Commenting on the report, Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Director General of Dubai Customs, said: "We are pleased that the UAE has retained its position in the first place regionally and moved up to be number four globally in facilitating trading across borders. The extraordinary efforts of all stakeholders in the trading process had made the UAE reach these impressive results. Dubai Customs was one of the first government entities to adopt eGovernment practices. Service automation and innovative electronic services have contributed to this achievement. Today, Dubai Customs is the first government department to transform 100 per cent of its services into smart services."

"With this shift towards a smart government department, we expect a growth in the trade volume coming into the UAE and trade in transit given that application and clearing systems are operating round the clock which has increased capacity by 200 per cent," Ahmed added.

Mohammed Al Muallem, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DP World, UAE Region, said: "Maintaining UAE’s position as number one in the MENA region in facilitating trade across borders proves the successful measures taken by all entities involved in the trading process spearheaded by Dubai Trade, to ease trading procedures, and achieve the economic growth goals in the UAE. Doing Business Report is an important reference for improving the efficiency of government services as it helps identify areas for improvement and benchmark performance indicators.

“As the gateway for the Middle East and wider region, and in line with its critical role in protecting and enhancing the supply chain, Jebel Ali Port is committed to providing products and services that assure the highest value and satisfaction for its customers", added Al Muallem.

For the past five years, Dubai Trade has been actively working with the World Bank and the Emirates Competitiveness Council for the Doing Business reports on the topic of ‘Trading Across Borders’. For the 2014 report, Dubai Trade administered the Trading across borders survey to companies involved in international trade and sent their responses to World Bank backed by data and facts collected over several transactions during the evaluation period.

Mahmood Al Bastaki, CEO, Dubai Trade was proud of the expected achievement which supports Dubai’s bid to host EXPO 2020.

"We gift this achievement to the leadership of our country who have always supported and encouraged us and whose vision has paved the way to position the UAE among the top countries in the area of facilitating trading across borders." Al Bastaki said

"At Dubai Trade, we still have a lot to do in order to further facilitate the trading process. Our aim is to make trade easier, faster and cost effective for all stakeholders through continued improvement of processes and adopting smart government applications in order for Dubai and the UAE to be the best trading and logistics hub in the world," he added.

According to the Doing Business report, procedures in the UAE match or surpass those in high-income member economies of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). For example, time to export and import in the UAE is seven days while it’s 11 days to export and 10 days to import in OECD countries. In the Mena region it’s 20 and 24 days respectively. Cost of importing and exporting is much less in the UAE compared to OECD and Mena regions.


 

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