COMCEC 42: UAE non-oil trade with OIC states hits $358.1 billion
Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, together with Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Türkiye, represented President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the 42nd session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), held in Istanbul from 31 October to 3 November and opened by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Al Zeyoudi conveyed the President's greetings to the leaders and representatives of member states and, in the UAE's address, affirmed the country's commitment to turning economic, trade and investment cooperation with OIC states into sustainable strategic partnerships. He noted that the organisation's 57 members represent nearly a quarter of the world's population, with a combined GDP of about $10 trillion, and that their commodity exports reached about $2.7 trillion in 2025, of which $650 billion, about 24%, was intra-OIC trade.
According to figures he presented, UAE non-oil trade with member states reached about $358.1 billion in 2025, or 35% of the country's total non-oil foreign trade, and rose to $194.8 billion in the first half of 2026, up 20.2% year on year. UAE non-oil exports to OIC states totalled $80 billion in 2025, re-exports $127 billion and imports $151.2 billion.
Al Zeyoudi called for developing trade finance instruments, activating the system of trade preferences among member states and using advanced technology and artificial intelligence to modernise customs and logistics. He presented the UAE's experience with Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements and its readiness to share it with member states. Al Mansoori thanked Türkiye for hosting the session.
Al Majlis Analysis: The figure that sums up the UAE's place in this grouping is 35%: more than a third of its non-oil trade runs through OIC countries, well above the roughly 24% share of intra-OIC trade across the organisation itself. With growth above 20% in the first half of the year, the country clearly treats this space as a core market rather than a purely diplomatic framework. Al Zeyoudi's call for trade preferences, trade finance and digital customs is, in essence, an attempt to take the CEPA model to a collective level, opening wider markets for UAE exports and re-exports.