UAE, Italy trade volume reached $9.92b in 2020 despite pandemic

Sajjad Ahmad, Deputy Business Editor

The volume of trade between the UAE and Italy rose by 53% to $9.92 billion (8.4 billion euro) in 2020 compared to 2019 despite the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, said Amedeo Scarpa, Director for Italian Trade Agency at Dubai Office on the sideline of The Big 5 exhibition.

He added, “Italy is the eight largest trade partner of the UAE globally and its exports to the UAE amounted $4.72 billion (4 billion euro) and it imported $5.19 billion (4.8 billion euro) of goods from the UAE in 2020.”

Scarpa said that trade between the two countries saw a growth of 41% in the first five month of the 2021and we are hopeful that it will increase more in the remaining part of the year.

About Italian participation in the Expo 2020, he said that we are very confident that Expo will give a big boost to business activities in the UAE and region. We expects that Expo 2020 will also help Italian economy by attracting around 1.6 billion euro investment to the country.

He further said that green economy and sustainability is the main feature of Italian pavilion during the Expo 2020 Dubai. Italian Pavilion will hold talk on various topics like green energy, aerospace, designing, fashion etc.

Over 260 Italian companies - including 74 from The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) - and two separate pavilions are participating at The Big 5 and Middle East Stone 2021.

Both pavilions will be realised by ITA – Italian Trade Agency, in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy in the UAE and the General Consulate of Italy in Dubai.

At The Big 5, CASEITALY is the project and concept around which 33 Italian exhibitors grouped by the most important Italian associations ACMI,ANFIT,ASSITES,PILE and FINCO will display the latest Italian solutions for building construction and maintenance.   

At Middle East Stone, with Confindustria Marmomacchine and 41 Italian companies, Italy’s will show the latest products and working technologies for marble and natural stones.

Nicola Lener, Ambassador of Italy to the United Arab Emirates, commented: “The impressive participation of Italian companies in The Big 5 and Middle East Stone 2021 confirms the strong will of our businessmen to reconnect in person with the global building and construction industries and their deep confidence in the Dubai exhibition system. During this difficult period, our construction companies never stopped working on research and innovation, in order to further improve their products and solutions in terms of efficiency, resilience and environmental impact and meet the highest standards of sustainable construction. We are proud to supporting them in presenting their innovation capabilities in Dubai.”

Amedeo Scarpa said: “To have 260 Italian companies in presence, out of which 74 in the official pavilions, is absolutely tremendous. This year, between January and June alone, the UAE awarded around $2.5billion-worth of construction contracts, and there are still around $328.6 billion-worth in the pre-execution phase. Not only that, but whilst the majority of the nation’s upcoming projects are in the design, study, bid evaluation, main-contract prequalification and main-contract bid stages, nearly $14billion-worth of construction projects are also likely to be awarded throughout the remainder of 2021 and 2022. Italy is ready to give its high quality offer to reach such goals”.

Angelo Artale, General Director of FINCO, said: “As the Italian general federation of industries for products, systems and services for construction and maintenance, we combine over 40 different associations specialising in areas as varied as historical and monumental restoration, renewable energies (including biomass and hydroelectricity), external and sunscreen protection systems and components and many more diverse skills and products, all grouped around the concept of CASEITALY. We know we will gain so many priceless experiences through taking part in this dynamic gathering in Dubai.”

Finally, Flavio Marabelli, Honorary President of Confindustria Marmomacchine, said: “To play such a key part in an event as important as Middle East Stone is tremendously exciting for us. As the official Italian association of producers of natural stones and of manufacturers of machinery and equipment for stone processing, we can’t wait to connect with industry professionals from across the world, showcase Italy’s capabilities in various areas, and further develop our plans for the future. On the statistical level it should be noted the extraordinarily positive start to 2021 for our sector: the first 5 months of the year have been incredibly positive both for the total Italian export of natural stones (+32.4% in value compared to the same period of 2020) and for stone technologies (+43.4%).”