EDC releases a new batch of reports on the performance of products and sectors

Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC), an agency of the Dubai Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai, has released a batch of product and sector reports for 2010 to showcase Dubai manufacturing and exporting capabilities in the specific products and sectors as part of its annual programme for sector and product studies.

The batch of reports included four product reports on plastic films, biscuit and wafers, copper cables, and medical furniture, in addition to two sector scan reports for electric distribution equipment and transformers sector and the Machinery sector.

The plastic film report shows that  2009 exports of polypropylene products have exceeded AED200 million while polyethylene exports grew modestly for the past 10 years and last year recorded AED20 million. The exports for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) products posted AED60 million.

Meanwhile, the value of direct exports of biscuit and wafers amounted to AED150 million while AED7 million worth of products were exported from the free zones. The direct import is huge for this product registering nearly AED500 million in 2009, which indicated the large potential for import substitution.

The value of imports for copper cables exceeded AED4 billion in 2008 while the exports averaged AED500 million every year from 2007 to 2009. Imports in this sector declined sharply last year but exports continue to rise with re-exports remained stable at about AED500 million.

“Among our objectives is to provide UAE companies and buyers in various sectors with up-to-date analysis of trade data on specific sectors and products that highlight exporting capabilities, potential export markets, and opportunities for new investment or expansions,” said Engineer Saed Al Awadi, Chief Executive Office, EDC. “The Plastic film sector is one of the important sectors in which EDC is working to assist UAE companies to upgrade their capabilities and avail the growing export markets particularly in Europe”

Al Awadi also added, “The Electrical sector is an important sector in the UAE as it supports all aspects of development from real estate to services and manufacturing. Though local demand shrank in 2009, exports continued to grow, an indication of the future growth sustainability of the sector.”

UAE Exports series and Sector Scan series are published periodically by EDC, with main sources of information from the Statistic Department, Dubai Trade for Dubai External Trade data and the International Trade Centre (Geneva) Trade Map for international trade data.