UAE, Brazil align on G20 Agenda

The UAE's participation as a guest at the G20 Summit being held on November 18-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is part of an exchange of shared visions with Brazil, supporting joint action to achieve future goals.

It's part of a steady development with the agreement in 2019 between the two countries to elevate their bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.

Since officially assuming the G20 presidency on 1st December 2023, Brazil has been focusing on strengthening cooperation among member states to find effective solutions to key global challenges.

According to Brazil's vision, the future direction of the G20 aims to address pressing issues through dynamic initiatives, commitment to sustainable practices and inclusive dialogue, paving the way for shared achievements among G20 countries.

Through its leadership of the G20, Brazil is working to develop innovative strategies and fruitful co-operation with the G20 countries to build a future characterised by shared achievements and global solidarity.

The UAE has declared its support for the priorities of the Brazilian G20 presidency, which include developing global governance, combating poverty and hunger, and addressing climate and energy challenges.

Throughout this year, the UAE has been keen to participate in all G20-related ministerial meetings held in Brazil. These included the Foreign Ministers Meeting, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, the Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting, the Labour and Employment Ministers Meeting, the Sherpa Meeting, and the G20 Tourism Ministers Meeting for 2024.

The meeting of agriculture ministers, the meeting of energy ministers, the meeting of health ministers to discuss global health challenges and identify strategic priorities, the meetings of education ministers, and other meetings that came within the agenda of the group's work.

In terms of bilateral relations, the UAE is one of Brazil's largest economic partners in the Middle East, with trade between the two countries reaching AED13.28 billion in the first eight months of this year.

Brazil is currently the UAE's largest trading partner in Latin America, and the second largest in the Americas after the United States.

UAE investments are estimated at $5bn with major Emirati companies such as Mubadala, DP World, Emirates Airlines, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Yahsat and others.

The two countries are working to support joint initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable development. In this regard, the UAE government and the government of the Federative Republic of Brazil launched this year a strategic partnership in the areas of government modernisation, focusing on exchanging expertise, experiences and best practices in three areas of cooperation, including capacity building of government cadres, knowledge exchange in the field of government competitiveness, and sharing experiences in the economic fields.

Brazil announced this year that it has joined the UAE Declaration on a Global Climate Finance Framework, launched by a group of world leaders at COP28, which saw the announcement of the historic UAE Consensus. It has raised and catalysed more than $85 billion in funding and launched 11 pledges and declarations.

The endorsement of Brazil, which will host COP30 in Belem in 2025, was a reflection of the coordination between the agendas of the COP and G20 presidencies to provide affordable and concessional climate finance.

On the other hand, the UAE has growing and developing relations with the G20 countries. Trade and investment relations between the two sides are witnessing a qualitative leap characterised by development and prosperity, as reflected in non-oil foreign trade data, which recorded $196.1 billion during the first half of 2024, an increase of 4.1 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The G20 accounted for 51.6 per cent of the country's total non-oil foreign trade during that period. This growth was driven by a record increase in the UAE's non-oil exports, which rose by 11.5 per cent, with the UAE's non-oil trade with the G20 reaching $393.2 billion in 2023.

With a growth of 15.3 per cent compared to 2022 and 54 per cent compared to 2019, this reflects the strength of the growing economic ties between the UAE and the world's 20 largest economies.

The G20 consists of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the African Union and the European Union.

G20 members represent about 85 per cent of global GDP and more than 75 per cent of global trade.