A resurgent re-exports sector increased Dubai's total non-oil foreign trade by 17 per cent to Dh111.67 billion ($30.4 billion) in 2001.
The 2000 figure was Dh95.51 billion.
China, US and Iran retained their number one rankings respectively in the emirate's buoyant import, export and re-export segments.
In the two-way overall trade, while China maintained its lead as Dubai's main trading partner with exchanges totalling Dh8 billion, Britain came second with total bilateral trade valued at Dh6.78 billon followed by Japan at Dh6.2 billion. In 2000, the overall growth recorded by Dubai's non-oil foreign trade sector was 11.4 per cent signalling a recovery after a slump in the previous year.
Led by a sustained boom in shipments to Iran, Dubai's re-export sector recorded a 27.8 per cent jump to Dh22.57 billion last year from Dh17.65 billion in the previous year. In 2000, the re-export sector posted 17.5 per cent growth after two years of decline, according to statistics released by the Research & Studies Department of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Re-exports to Iran, accounting for 23 per cent of the total, surged to Dh5.19 billion from Dh3.86 billion while those to India rose to Dh1.69 billion from Dh1.02 billion in the previous year. Other major re-export destinations of Dubai included Kuwait at Dh1.01 billion, Pakistan at Dh967 million and Saudi Arabia at Dh944 million. Saudi Arabia, which came third in 2000 as a Dubai re-export destination was relegated to the fifth position.
A significant aspect of the sector last year was the buoyancy in re-exports to Iraq which emerged as the sixth top destination at Dh924 million from the 17th position it held at Dh318 million in the previous year.
Dubai's imports, traditionally accounting for more than 70 per cent of its total non-oil foreign trade, sustained its upswing at 14.9 per cent to Dh83.18 billion from Dh72.39 billion in 2000, the year in which the sector recovered after a dramatic slump in the previous year. China came on top among Dubai's supplier countries by accounting for Dh7.74 billion or 9.3 per cent of the emirate's total imports, followed by Britain at Dh5.91 billion, Japan at Dh5.756 billion, and India at Dh5.735 billion and the US at Dh5.731 billion. Exports from Dubai recorded some 8.1 per cent growth to Dh5.91 billion from Dh5.46 in the previous year. In 2000, Dubai's exports bounced back with a growth of 6.6 per cent after a two-year long shrinkage. In 1998 and 1999, the export sector slumped by 4.2 per cent to Dh5.24 billion and 2.2 per cent to Dh5.12 billion respectively.
Despite a fall in Dubai's exports to the US from Dh614 million in 2000 to Dh555 million last year, the super power maintained its rank as the emirate's top export destination, followed by South Korea at Dh478 million, replacing Japan at Dh444 million to emerge as the second major destination for Dubai exports. Other major buyer countries of Dubai include the UK at Dh304 million and the Netherlands at Dh270 million.
Over the past five years, Dubai's total non-oil trade recorded an overall surge of Dh25.8 billion, up 30 per cent from Dh85.8 billion in 1997. Except for the year 1999, when the overall trade slipped 3.4 per cent to Dh85.76 billion, Dubai's non-oil foreign trade has been on a continuous upswing since 1997.
