Dubai: The UAE's trade with Comesa was equivalent to 52 per cent of its trade with Africa in the first 10 months of 2010, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi said on the first day of the Comesa Forum in Dubai.

She said: "As the largest African economic bloc, Comesa plays a key role in the productive trade and economic alliance between the UAE and Africa."

Trade relations between the UAE and Comesa have grown substantially over the past 10 years.

Very active

"Our trade increased eightfold during this period. It has gone up from $636 million in 1999 to $5.68 billion in 2009," Shaikha Lubna said.

"Furthermore, during the first 10 months of 2010, UAE trade with Comesa exceeded 2009's overall trade with the bloc by 6.3 per cent."

The ministry also predicts a big increase once the final figures for 2010 are released.

According UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade figures, Comesa's share of the UAE's non-oil foreign trade increased from 1.9 per cent in 1999 to 3.2 per cent in 2009, and during the first 10 months of 2010 it attained 3.7 per cent growth.

Shaikha Lubna said that in the UAE, Dubai in particular has been very active in fostering strong trade relations with Comesa and encouraging trade with the bloc.

"As the Middle East's recognised commercial hub, our host emirate offers Comesa and international businesses a broad range of opportunities for various activities such as trade, transport and distribution, and manufacturing and processing."

Moreover, Shaikha Lubna said that UAE trade with its top five Comesa partners constituted over 78.2 per cent of its trade with the bloc during the first 10 months of 2010, while the remaining share of 21.8 per cent was divided among the other 14 Comesa members.

According to the latest figures, the top five Comesa partners are Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Kenya and Zambia.

The volume of trade with Sudan is estimated at $1.495 billion, constituting approximately 24.8 per cent of the UAE's trade with Comesa, followed by Libya with $1.348 billion or approximately 22.3 per cent.

The size of the UAE's trade with Egypt is put at $967 million, or about 16 per cent, followed by Kenya with $472 million or 7.8 per cent, and Zambia with $433 million, or about 7.2 per cent.