Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, said negotiations with five to seven countries could be concluded during the remaining months of the year. Talks with Canada are approaching completion, while procedures are under way for the UAE–Philippines agreement to take effect before December ends.
The country has concluded 37 Cepas, with 18 already in force, and is negotiating with about 20 more partners. Officials confirmed that this represents an advanced stage of economic diplomacy in which the UAE may soon have more trade agreements than some companies have customers.
The programme is designed to reduce or remove tariffs, improve market access, encourage investment and simplify customs procedures. It also gives visiting delegations an opportunity to describe bilateral relations as “historic” even when the participating nations have spent most of history buying products from somebody else.
Economists said the agreements are central to the UAE’s strategy of expanding non-oil trade and connecting domestic businesses with markets across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The approach has become particularly valuable as the global trading system moves towards tariffs, counter-tariffs and leaders announcing that imports are a personal insult.
The UAE’s response has been to negotiate faster.
Trade officials have therefore entered what insiders described as a permanent state of constructive dialogue, supported by folders, translation headsets and sufficient Arabic coffee to keep tariff discussions alive until every product receives its own rule of origin.
Partners already covered by the CEPA network include major economies and fast-growing markets. Agreements typically address goods, services, investment, digital commerce, government procurement and intellectual property, along with several hundred pages explaining when a biscuit officially becomes foreign.
Businesses are expected to benefit from lower duties and clearer regulations. Exporters, however, may still need to prove that their products were manufactured, assembled, packaged, substantially transformed and emotionally committed to the country named on the certificate.
The trade drive follows the performance of earlier Cepas, including the pact with India, which entered into force in May 2022. Bilateral trade later passed the $100 billion level, encouraging officials to conclude that carefully negotiated commercial access can produce measurable results and an almost unlimited supply of conferences discussing those results.
The two countries have set a goal of doubling trade to $200 billion by 2032. Companies have been advised to begin preparing immediately by expanding production, improving logistics and learning how many zeroes appear in $200 billion.
Other agreements have targeted markets such as Indonesia, Israel, Türkiye, Cambodia, Georgia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Kenya and Ukraine. The expanding list allows the UAE to position itself as a commercial bridge between regions that occasionally communicate mainly through sanctions announcements.
The planned additions come as governments worldwide seek alternative supply chains. Pandemic disruptions, geopolitical tensions and shipping risks have persuaded companies that relying on one producer, one port or one canal may be less efficient than previously advertised by management consultants.
The UAE has promoted its ports, airports, free zones and logistics networks as platforms for serving multiple regions. Its location enables goods to move between Asia, Africa and Europe, assuming the goods have completed the necessary paperwork and have not become emotionally attached to a customs warehouse.
Canada is among the most closely watched negotiations. A completed agreement could strengthen trade in sectors including food, technology, clean energy, professional services and investment. It could also create a formal framework under which maple syrup enters the Gulf at a tariff rate considered acceptable to both nations.
The Philippines agreement is expected to support trade flows and provide opportunities in areas such as services, agriculture, manufacturing and technology. Officials are working to complete the required procedures before year-end, a deadline that has caused legal teams to replace all ordinary calendars with large wall charts marked “CEPA”.
Trade specialists said the pace reflects a broader move towards bilateral and regional deals as multilateral negotiations struggle to advance. Large global trade rounds can take years because nearly every country must agree, whereas a CEPA requires only two governments, several ministries, hundreds of technical meetings and one official who knows where the final signature page has gone.
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