uma Al Kait, ?Assistant Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Economy, stated that adopting advanced technologies and keeping pace with the latest international developments are of the main cornerstones of the UAE’s economic policies, which are based on the requirements of the UAE Vision 2021.

They also establish the foundations of a diverse and competitive international economy, which is based on knowledge, innovation, technology and scientific research and led by experienced national human resources who can meet the demands of modern business development, he added.

During his speech at the Online Silk Road Conference that started yesterday and will run for another two days, as part of the 2017 China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia in North-western China, he added that the conference is a major platform to support and promote the increasingly-important electronic trade sector, which is a prominent driver of current economic growth, through modern concepts and dynamic practices, to develop bilateral and international commerce and benefit from the ongoing developments in communication and information technology.

Al Kait stressed that the UAE is aware of the importance of electronic trade as a new and major branch of economic development, due to its many beneficial qualities in terms of saving effort, time and cost, and its freedom from the constraints of geography and the burdens of bureaucracy, making it a dynamic local and international tool for business growth and expansion, especially for small and medium-sized companies, the industrial sector and the goods and services commerce sector. He also highlighted its increasing strategic role in strengthening development co-operation with the UAE’s partners, most notably the People’s Republic of China, which has proven its international leadership in this vital sector.

He further added that the UAE has continually worked on developing the electronic commerce sector and improving its modern legislative and organisational framework, to support the country’s sustainable growth.

He also highlighted the combined efforts of various government authorities regarding the close co-operation between the private sector and national academic institutions and research centres, to maximise the desired economic benefits from modern internet technology, such as cloud sharing, enhanced data and cyber security, to strengthen the UAE’s leadership in electronic and international commerce and further raise its prestigious and competitive international stature.

The prominent results achieved by the UAE in many of the indicators related to this field reflected this leadership and competitiveness in a practical way, Al Kait stated.

The UAE was ahead of the countries in the region in terms of market value in the electronic commerce sector with a value that reached approximately US$2.8 billion during the current year. This figure is expected to rise by 2020 to reach $8.1 billion and will take up over a third of the total of the electronic commerce transactions in the Middle East and North Africa.

He said that the UAE took first place regionally and 18th globally among the most competitive countries in the world digital competitiveness rankings for 2017. It was first in the Arab region and 26th globally in the networked readiness index for 2016, as well as the first place in the Arab region and 35 globally in the World Innovation Index for 2017. In addition, it also held the first place in the Arab region and 23 internationally in the Enabling Trade Index for the year 2016.

The UAE is first in the Arab region and 19th globally in the exports and imports of goods according to the International Trade Statistics Report 2017 coming out of the World Trade Organisation, he added.

He stressed that the UAE saw the future with a clear vision as a foundation towards formulating developmental policies. The national strategy for innovation in the UAE specified the technology sector as one of seven main sectors nominated to lead the journey of advancement based on innovation and knowledge.

Al Kait added that this direction had proved successful for the UAE in providing a rich environment for electronic commerce which made it an attractive regional and international destination. Perhaps, the best example of its success was in attracting a number of leading international companies in this sector to the electronic and smart trade market in the UAE. The most prominent among these is the prestigious Chinese "Ali Baba" Group and the "Amazon" platform which is globally recognised.