KSA among Abu Dhabi’s top nonoil trade partners

Saudi Arabia maintained the first position on Abu Dhabi's list of nonoil commodities trade partners, with total trade valued at AED18.46 billion in 2012, which constituted 12.37 percent of Abu Dhabi's total nonoil commodity trade.
According to the economic report of Abu Dhabi for the year 2013, the United States ranked second with a AED14.49 billion trade value, and a relative importance of 9.71 percent in total nonoil trade of the emirate, which was the same compared to that of the year 2011. South Korea, which came in third place on the list of key trading partners of Abu Dhabi, raised its relative importance slightly in 2012 to 8.85 percent compared to 8.4 percent in total nonoil commodity trade of in 2011, achieving a total trade of AED13.2 billion.
Germany and Japan switched fourth and fifth ranks, as Germany moved forward from the fifth to the fourth place, after its total commodity exchange with Abu Dhabi increased to AED10 billion in 2012. Japan retreated from the fourth to the fifth place, with a AED9.83 billion trade value, slightly less than its nonoil commodity trade with Abu Dhabi, which stood at AED9.9 billion in 2011.
The importance of Abu Dhabi's trade partners in exports were continuously changing in recent years, where China came first in 2012 as nonoil commodity exports from Abu Dhabi reached AED4.05 billion, constituting 26.3 percent of Abu Dhabi's total nonoil exports. China actually ranked seventh in 2011 when it acquired only 5 percent of the total nonoil exports of Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia maintained the second place with total exports valued at AED3.87 billion, acquiring 25.2 percent of Abu Dhabi's nonoil exports. This increase was high compared to 2011, when Saudi Arabia captured 17.9 percent of Abu Dhabi's nonoil exports.
It was remarkable that Singapore ranked third with 12.3 percent of Abu Dhabi's total nonoil exports valued at AED1.89 billion, although it was not among the top 10 partner countries in 2011. India moved forward one rank to the fourth place, while Oman dropped one rank to take the fifth place.
The list of key trading partners in re-exports during 2012, remained stable compared to 2011; there was no change in the top four places occupied by four Gulf states. Bahrain remained in first place despite the low drop in its share of Abu Dhabi's total re-exports from 26.3 percent in 2012 compared to 29.6 percent in 2011.
Saudi Arabia maintained the second place with 17.4 percent of Abu Dhabi's total re-exports, as its share increased compared to 13.8 percent achieved in 2011. Qatar also restored the third place by 14.5 percent in 2012, registering a slight increase compared to 13.4 percent Abu Dhabi's total re-exports captured in 2011. Kuwait maintained its position by ranking fourth with 12.2 percent of the total re-exports of Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Abu Dhabi continued to register good growth rates in recent years as it increased in 2011 by more than 7.8 percent to reach AED52.23 billion compared to AED 48.44 billion at the end of 2010.
Saudi Arabia entered the list of the biggest exporters of foreign investments to Abu Dhabi, where it ranked ninth on the list, with total investments exceeding AED1 billion in 2011, after it was ranked 16th at the end of 2010 with investments of approximately AED301 million.
The real estate and business services activity maintained the largest share of FDI by economic activity in Abu Dhabi during 2010-2011. At the end of 2011, FDI in this activity exceeded AED22 billion and accounted for 42.2 percent of the total FDI in the emirate during the same year compared to AED19 billion in 2010, which accounted for 39.1 percent of Abu Dhabi's total FDI during the same year, achieving a 16 percent annual growth rate.
According to state news agency Wam, the total value of Abu Dhabi's foreign trade in 2012 exceeded AED600 billion as it grew by 6.9 percent compared to 2011. Foreign trade constituted 65.9 percent of the emirate's GDP in 2012, which demonstrates importance of trade in the economy.