Chile and the United Arab Emirates sign Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

Within the official visit of the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Foreign Affairs Minister Alberto van Klaveren and the Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, signed today a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), deepening the economic collaboration between the two countries.

The CEPA will provide concrete opportunities for better access to the UAE market, reducing and eliminating tariffs for around 97% of Chile's exportable products to the UAE, such as copper, cellulose, food, fruit and wine, among others.

Minister van Klaveren highlighted the benefits that the agreement will have on bilateral trade: “This agreement is very important for Chile. This is the first trade agreement between Chile and a country from the Middle East and the Gulf, in particular. We are certain that the broad liberalization of access to both markets established in the CEPA will substantially impact bilateral trade. In addition, this agreement facilitates the negotiation of a future investment agreement, which is important for both parties. Overall, CEPA takes our relations with the UAE to a new level and will enable us to project ourselves more strongly in the region as a whole”.

One of the main focus of Emirati trade policy is to ensure food imports with safe and reliable suppliers, which is complementary to the Chilean export base, so that all agri-food shipments have a significant potential with this agreement.

Three years after the entry into force of the CEPA, 86 products would be added to obtain 0% tariffs in the UAE. This means that 98.1% of exported products would be liberalized in that market.