'UAE foreign trade policy based on free economy'

UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi stressed that the UAE's foreign trade policy is based on free economy, openness and facilitation of trade exchange and investments.

The UAE continues to provide foreign investors with incentives, she said adding that Germany became the UAE's fourth largest trade partner in 2009 with trade exchange going up to $8.4 billion (4.7 per cent of UAE's non-oil foreign trade).

This accounts for 41 per cent of total trade exchange between Germany and all Gulf countries, Sheikha Lubna said.

The minister's remarks came during her participation in the Global Connect forum in Stuttgart, Germany.

The forum was opened by Cornelia Pieper, German State Secretary, Federal Foreign Office, in presence of Stefan Mappus, Premier of the State of Baden-Wurttemberg, UAE Ambassador to Germany Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahmoud and a host of business leaders from Germany, Gulf countries and the rest of the world.

Global Connect is a forum that provides information on the economic and political situation, fiscal and legal framework or the structure of the financial sector in a particular target market.

Sheikha Lubna held meetings with Pieper, mayor of Stuttgart and senior economy officials of Baden-Wurttemberg and visited the headquarters of DaimlerChrysler.

She noted that more than 700 German companies are now operating in UAE.