UAE Accounts for 50% of Azerbaijan's Trade with Gulf States
Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, described Azerbaijan as a "hugely valuable trade and investment partner," noting that non-oil trade between the two countries surged 36.2% in 2023 to $2.24 billion—accounting for half of Azerbaijan's total trade with the GCC.
The deal is expected to contribute $680 million to the UAE's GDP and $300 million to Azerbaijan's economy by 2031. It will also open new opportunities in key sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, automotive, logistics, and financial services.
The agreement aims to remove trade barriers, enhance private-sector collaboration, and deepen economic integration through strategic Emirati investments, particularly in energy and renewables via ADNOC and Masdar.
With Azerbaijan's non-oil sector growing by 6.3% in 2024 and GDP up 4.1%, the CEPA reflects both nations' commitment to sustainable, diversified growth.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
26 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
UAE's GDP to surge stronger in 2026 on back of buoyant financial system: CBUAE
The overall growth trajectory of the UAE economy is expected to continue its upward trend, with the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) forecasting 4.4 per cent growth in 2025 and a stronger rise to 5.4 per cent in 2026. Unveiling its 2024 Financial Stability Report, the apex bank portrayed a buoyant financial system and projected reassuring economic growth for the years ahead. The optimistic outlook is reinforced by independent forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, offering further validation of the UAE's stability and resilience. CBUAE's report highlights that real GDP grew by four per cent in 2024. Non‑hydrocarbon sectors led the charge, expanding by around five per cent, while the hydrocarbon sector rebounded modestly by one per cent. Independent institutions echo this confidence. The IMF projects real GDP growth of roughly four per cent in 2025, increasing to five per cent in 2026. The World Bank has revised its estimates upward, now forecasting UAE GDP growth of 4.6 per cent in 2025 and 4.9 per cent in both 2026 and 2027, with the non‑oil economy expected to expand by 4.9 per cent in 2025. Meanwhile, the World Bank projects GCC-wide growth of 3.2 per cent in 2025, rising to 4.5 per cent in 2026. CBUAE Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama emphasised that prudent policies, robust fundamentals, and proactive regulatory frameworks have helped insulate the UAE from growing global risk and support sustained momentum. This aligns with national strategies and global leadership aspirations, as the financial system evolves to support long-term economic vision and growth . Growth drivers in 2025–26 are expected to include both oil and non‑oil sectors. Hydrocarbon-related GDP is forecast to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2025 and surge by 8.1 per cent in 2026 amid easing Opec+ production quotas. Non‑hydrocarbon activity is likely to sustain a 4.5 per cent growth rate over both years, backed by public investment, diversification strategies, and private-sector dynamism. International observers highlight the UAE's capacity to maintain stronger-than-average growth compared to its regional peers. As the IMF notes, GCC growth is projected at 3 per cent in 2025 and 4.1 per cent in 2026, while non‑oil exporters in Mena continue to face slower prospects amid global uncertainty. The World Bank stresses that careful public spending in infrastructure, education, and green energy is key to translating growth into resilience across the region. According to economists, in practical terms, the outlook suggests that the UAE will remain a magnet for investment and capital inflows, supported by surpluses, moderate inflation, and stable sovereign buffers. The World Bank anticipates the current account surplus standing at around 6.2 per cent of GDP in 2025, rising further to 6.4 per cent in 2026. Job creation is expected to remain healthy as well, with employment growth projected at 3.3 per cent in 2025 and an unemployment rate holding at around 2.1 per cent. In sum, CBUAE's 2024 Financial Stability Report, supported by independent global institutions, presents a compelling picture of a UAE economy underpinned by safeguarding regulations, innovation, and prudent fiscal management. 'With diversified growth engines firing across oil, finance, tourism, and logistics, enhanced oversight structures, and digital transformation marking progress, the outlook through 2025 and 2026 is decidedly optimistic,' says Sunil Ambalavelil, a leading financial and legal consultant. 'The UAE appears well positioned to deliver sustained stability, moderate but steady expansion, and resilience even against a shifting global economic backdrop,' Ambalavelil added. These forecasts provide robust endorsement of the CBUAE's internal projections and reflect international confidence in the UAE's economic strategy—particularly its diversification and reform agenda. CBUAE emphasises that the stability of the financial system is underpinned by strong capital and liquidity buffers, improved asset quality, and effective macro‑prudential regulations. The introduction of the UAE Financial Stability Council in 2024 has enhanced coordination among key stakeholders, facilitating faster responses to systemic risks and improving oversight. Stress tests commissioned by CBUAE confirmed banks' ability to withstand adverse scenarios while continuing to extend credit and maintaining sufficient capital above regulatory minimal. The report also notes resilience among non‑bank financial institutions. The insurance sector saw written premiums rise 21.4 per cent in 2024, reaching Dh64.8 billion, while finance companies and money exchanges maintained healthy capital and liquidity positions. Digital innovation accelerated in 2024 with expanded FinTech adoption and rollouts like the Domestic Card Scheme 'Jaywan', the Aani Instant Payment Platform, and the advancing 'Digital Dirham' central bank digital currency pilot—these initiatives bolstered efficiency, inclusion, and systemic resilience, the report said.
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Fertiglobe's revenue grows 14% to $566m in the second quarter
Fertiglobe, the world's largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined and the largest nitrogen fertiliser producer in the Middle East and North Africa region and Adnoc's low carbon ammonia platform, on Monday announced a revenue of $566 million, reflecting a 14 per cent year-on-year increase in the second quarter. Adjusted Ebitda grew 26 per cent to $176 million, with adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders stood at $12 million, representing a 68 per cent increase compared to Q2 2024. In the first half of 2025, Fertiglobe reported revenue of $1.26 billion, reflecting a 20 per cent increase year-on-year increase. Adjusted Ebitda for the period stood at $437 million, up 36 per cent year-on-year, while adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders stood at $85 million, representing an 18 per cent decline compared to the prior year, driven by a one-off forex gain in H1 2024. Ahmed El-Hoshy, CEO of Fertiglobe, commented: 'This quarter demonstrated Fertiglobe's growing operational resilience, with an adjusted Ebitda increase of 26 per cent Y-o-Y. Fertiglobe remains strategically placed to deliver robust performance and maintain operational continuity amid challenging conditions. We capitalised on the downtime in Egypt to perform critical maintenance activities, successfully extending the turnaround cycle, with maintenance capex expected towards the lower end of our previous guidance at $145 million. Notably, excluding external factors and turnarounds, our own-produced sales volumes for the second quarter of 2025 would have been up 4 per cent Y-o-Y, while H1 2025 own-produced sales volumes would have increased 7 per cent Y-o-Y. With the continued support of Adnoc, we remain confident in our strategic path to become a globally integrated nitrogen champion and creating long-term value for shareholders, while continuing to innovate and differentiate our solutions that support global food security and enable the energy transition.' The company proposed H1 2025 dividends of at least $100 million (4.4 fils per share), subject to board approval in September with payment in October. Including the $31 million worth of shares bought back in Q2 2025, Fertiglobe provides one of the highest total return metrics in the industry at the combined $131 million cash returns to shareholders for H1 2025. Additionally, Fertiglobe continues to execute on its announced 2.5 per cent share buyback programme, aimed at opportunistically capitalising on the stock's attractive valuation. As of 1 August 2025, Fertiglobe repurchased 55 million shares, representing 0.66 per cent of total outstanding shares. While Fertiglobe remains dedicated to advancing its low-carbon project portfolio, the Company recognises that the global low-carbon ammonia market remains in the early stages of development, with regulatory frameworks and demand signals continuing to evolve. As such, and in line with Fertiglobe's disciplined approach to capital deployment across its low-carbon ammonia project pipeline, Fertiglobe has taken the decision to rephase Project Rabdan1F, a 1 mtpa low-carbon ammonia project and associated auto-thermal reformer. This decision reflects the Company's prudent investment strategy and commitment to timing capital allocation effectively and is consistent with the broader objectives of the Grow 2030 Strategy, particularly its focus on disciplined low-carbon growth. In addition, Fertiglobe expects its recently announced proposed acquisition of the distribution assets of Wengfu Australia to play a key role in strengthening its downstream presence in high-netback markets, in line with its strategic focus on customer proximity. Wengfu Australia's distribution assets are also projected to enhance supply chain resilience and unlock long-term distribution synergies. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is anticipated to close in H2 2025. As of 30 June 2025, Fertiglobe reported a net debt position of $909 million, implying a consolidated net debt to LTM adjusted Ebitda ratio of 1.0x. This strong financial position enables the Company to effectively balance growth investments and shareholder distributions, supported by robust free cash flow generation and a solid balance sheet. Fertiglobe is also set to realise $10 million of annual run rate interest savings in 2025, following credit rating upgrades by S&P, Fitch, and Moody's and driven by Adnoc's acquisition of a majority stake in Fertiglobe. These savings are further underpinned by the refinancing of our $300 million loan through the internal Adnoc bank and the recent repricing of a $1.1 billion term loan, supporting lower financing costs and contributing to earnings accretion in the quarter
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
Salasa closes $30mln Series B round led by Artal Capital to transform regional e-commerce logistics
Expanding fulfillment centers, darkstores, and bonded zones to meet growing demand across Saudi Arabia and GCC. Salasa is strengthening its cross-border infrastructure and international shipping to unlock new markets for merchants. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Salasa, Saudi Arabia's leading e-commerce fulfillment platform, announced today that it has closed a $30 million Series B funding round to accelerate its evolution into a technology-first logistics company and expand its cross-border reach. The round was led by Artal Capital, with participation from SVC, Wa'ed Ventures, 500 Global, Alsulaiman Group, and other strategic investors. This milestone reflects investors' confidence in Salasa's vision to transform e-commerce logistics into a growth engine for retailers. Founded in 2017 and based in Riyadh, Salasa offers turnkey solutions spanning fulfillment, shipping, inventory management, bonded zones, last-mile delivery, and cross-border logistics. The Series B funding will accelerate Salasa's local and global expansion, scale its dark store network, enhance bonded zone capabilities, and advance its AI-driven technology ecosystem to enable smarter, more efficient supply chain operations. "This funding marks a major milestone," said Abdulmajeed Alyemni, Co-founder and CEO of Salasa. "We're scaling across fulfillment, technology, and talent to become a tech-first logistics company. With our investors' backing, we'll plan smarter, deliver faster, and expand globally with forward-thinking logistics.' "We're embedding AI across planning, inventory, and fulfillment to create predictive, self-optimizing logistics," said Hasan Alhazmi, Co-Founder and CBO of Salasa. "This boosts speed, accuracy, and efficiency for merchants, while our cross-border expansion and bonded zone operations open access to new markets regionally and beyond." Wassim Moukahhal, Head of Alternative Investments at Artal Capital, said: 'Salasa is solving one of the biggest pain points in regional e-commerce: reliable, scalable logistics infrastructure. We're excited to partner with a visionary team that is building a future-ready platform, combining physical scale with technological innovation. This investment aligns with our conviction that logistics is a key enabler of Saudi Arabia's digital transformation and a critical layer of the next generation of commerce.' With over 50 million products fulfilled and shipped domestically and internationally since inception, Salasa has become the logistics partner of choice for over a 1,000 merchants, including major brands like Noon, Amazon, Cenomi, Boutiqaat, Laverne, Sharaf DG and Alothaim Retail. Its ecosystem includes key platform integrations with Salla, ZID, Amazon, Trendyol, and Shopify, and carrier partnerships with Aramex, DHL, Saudi Post, and more than 40 other logistics providers. As Saudi Arabia's e-commerce market continues its double-digit growth, exceeded SAR 86 billion by 20241, Salasa is positioned to play a foundational role in powering the Kingdom's digital economy. About Salasa Salasa is Saudi Arabia's leading eCommerce fulfillment company, established in 2017 by Abdulmajeed Alyemni and Hasan Alhazmi. Headquartered in Riyadh, Salasa provides end-to-end logistics solutions including warehousing, last-mile delivery, and cross-border shipping. These services are designed to help modern retail brands scale with speed and reliability. Trusted by over 1,000 merchants and having shipped more than 50 million products, Salasa combines operational excellence with integrated technology to reduce cost, accelerate fulfillment, and safeguard brand reputation. Its infrastructure supports a wide range of industries, empowering local and international businesses to grow across the Kingdom and beyond. Backed by leading investors including Artal Capital, Alsulaiman Group, Saudi Venture Capital Company, and 500 Global, Salasa is building the logistics backbone of digital commerce in alignment with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
