UAE and Serbia Sign Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to Boost Trade and Investment

📷Courtesy of WAM. All rights reserved.

Belgrad, October 5, 2024 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić today witnessed the exchange of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), marking a significant step in strengthening trade, investment, and private sector collaboration between the two nations.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed praised the CEPA as a milestone in UAE-Serbia relations, noting, “The CEPA exchange with Serbia is a notable step forward in our efforts to create a network of trade agreements that will accelerate investment, promote knowledge-sharing, and create opportunities for joint ventures in high-growth sectors. Serbia represents an important addition to the CEPA programme and a bridge into the high-potential region of Eastern Europe.” He emphasized that the agreement reflects a shared ambition to foster long-term, sustainable growth for both economies.

Serbian President Vučić echoed these sentiments, expressing confidence in the CEPA's potential to open new avenues for economic cooperation and diversification, which will foster prosperity for both nations.

The agreement was formally exchanged by His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and His Excellency Tomislav Momirović, Serbia’s Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade, during a ceremony. The CEPA is set to deepen trade and investment ties, accelerate growth in priority industries, create jobs, and strengthen supply chains. It will also facilitate business opportunities for private sector companies in both countries.

Once implemented, the UAE-Serbia CEPA is expected to reduce or remove duties on various product lines, eliminate trade barriers, protect intellectual property rights, and support small and medium-sized enterprises. It is also designed to enhance mutual investment flows between the two countries.

The UAE is Serbia's third-largest market in the Middle East, and significant foreign direct investment (FDI) has already been channeled into key sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, food security, infrastructure, and logistics. The CEPA builds on these existing ties and aims to further expand trade relations.

The UAE’s broader CEPA programme, launched in September 2021, is a cornerstone of the nation’s growth strategy, targeting $1 trillion in trade value by 2031 and doubling the economy's size to surpass $800 billion by 2030. The UAE-Serbia CEPA will come into effect following ratification by both countries, marking a new era of economic cooperation between the UAE and Eastern Europe.