Higher Asian exports boost Dubai's trade

Higher Asian exports boost Dubai's trade

DUBAI (AFP): Higher imports from Japan and other southeast Asian countries boosted Dubai's trade by more than 10 percent in 1996 and pushed cargo volume to a record level, officials said yesterday.

The non-oil trade of Dubai, the main trans-shipment center in the Middle East, topped 80 billion dirhams (US$21.7 billion) in 1996 compared with around 70 billion dirhams ($19 billion) in 1995, they said.

The 1996 figure includes around 60 billion dirhams ($16.3 billion) in imports and the rest were exports and re-exports.

Preliminary figures obtained from the Dubai chamber of commerce and industry showed more than 20 billion dirhams ($5.44 billion) worth of imports came from Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

"There was a large increase in Dubai's imports last year. The bulk of the increase came from Asia," a chamber official told AFP.

The increase had a direct impact on Dubai's Cargo Village, which was built near the southern Gulf emirate's airport five years ago to cope with growing business.

The volume handled by Cargo Village, the biggest of its kind in the region, hit a record 369,000 tons in 1996, up by around 13 percent over the previous year when it totaled nearly 325,000 tons, official figures showed.

Cargo in 1996 included around 188,560 tons of imports compared with 160, 900 tons in 1995. Transit goods also surged by around 23 percent to 61,100 tons from 49,400 tons in the same period.

"There is a general upturn in business and trade in Dubai and the region," the Cargo Village director, Ali al-Jallaf said.

"Last year was a record year for business at our Village. This is mainly because of a general increase in international trade, especially exports by Asian countries, which see us as a link between the East and the West."

Most of Dubai's imports from Asia and other areas are re- exported to neighboring Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and as far as eastern Europe, Russia and other former Soviet republics, India and Pakistan.

Dubai, dubbed the Hong Kong of the Middle East, handles more than one fifth of the Gulf's non-oil trade and this has made it the barometer of economic activity in the oil-rich region.

An increase in its trade indicates a general business upswing in Saudi Arabia, Iran and other parts of the Middle East.

Jallaf said that he expected activity at the Cargo Village to surge to another record level of 450,000 tons in 1997 due to a projected growth in trade.

Until the year 2000, the growth is forecast to range between 13 and 15 percent annually, slower than the 25 percent growth rate recorded in the first two years after the Village was set up in 1991, he said.

"We have taken into consideration the growth rates over the past years. We have expanded the Village by more than 50 percent. We now have plans for further expansions to face the expected increase," he said.

The Cargo Village was built at a cost of around $75 million but several millions have been spent on expansions. It handles most of the cargo at Dubai airport, the second busiest in the region after Cairo airport.

Dubai's ports of Jebel Ali and Rashid, among the biggest 20 harbors in the world, also reported a surge in operations in 1996, with more than two million containers handled. Officials expect further increases this year.

As the second biggest and wealthiest member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after Abu Dhabi, Dubai has attracted more than three billion dollars in investment from Asia and other countries at its Jebel Ali free zone.

Officials foresee a sharp rise in capital flow after Britain returns its Hong Kong colony to China this year.