UAE Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi Engages Vietnam Business Council to Boost Private Sector Collaboration

The Minister of Foreign Trade of the UAE, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, met the Vietnam Business Council in the United Arab Emirates to talk about how the business communities in both countries can fully benefit from the opportunities that will arise after the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which was signed in October 2024, comes into effect.

Al Zeyoudi stressed Vietnam’s importance to the UAE as a trading partner during his talks. Bilateral non-oil trade reached US$7.02 billion in the first half of 2025, up 16.9% from the same period in 2024 and 6.4% from quarter to quarter.

This speeds up the growth seen in 2024, which increased by 4% year over year to reach US$12.6 billion, a 54.3% increase from 2019. As a result, Vietnam continues to be the UAE’s biggest ASEAN non-oil trading partner.

Al Zeyoudi pointed out that the UAE is still dedicated to expanding its bilateral trade with Vietnam and opening up more investment opportunities to promote industrial growth.

He said in a press release, “Both the UAE and Vietnam are dedicated to achieving mutual growth by expanding opportunities for our private sectors. Our CEPA has been designed to open up new markets for our exporters and increase access to global supply chains, and it is incumbent on both nations to build the connections to fully leverage its potential.”

“We have strong foundations to build on, with our business communities already benefitting from extensive bilateral exchange, and we are now well placed to develop a broad range of new opportunities for investors, entrepreneurs and businesses,” he added.

Al Zeyoudi further added, “We are already seeing the benefits of close collaboration.”

The minister highlighted its ongoing commitment to Vietnam’s economic development, noting investments in logistics infrastructure such as the Saigon Premier Container Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City and the expansion of new cargo services across the Mekong Delta.

Officials said these initiatives have laid the foundation for sustained growth and prosperity, with further investments planned in the coming months and years.

The UAE has strong economic ties to the ASEAN region, having signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

These agreements have helped the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade with ASEAN countries reach US$37.7 billion in 2024, up 16.8% from 2022 and 4.2% from 2023.

In 2024, ASEAN nations made up 11.3% of the UAE’s trade with non-Arab Asian nations and 4.6% of its total non-oil trade with the rest of the world.