A key official from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has called for "a global push to strengthen economic cooperation" as the prospect for a trade war between the world's two biggest economies looms larger.

Speaking at the Annual Investment Meeting event in Dubai on Monday, WTO deputy director-general Yonov Frederick Agah said: "In the face of rising tensions and increases in trade restrictive measures, a new global push to strengthen economic cooperation, to liberalise trade and investment and to resist protectionism is indispensible to reinvigorating global growth, advancing development and restoring confidence in the international economic system."

Agah said that the signs of rising global trade tensions “are not only a cause but a symptom of a global economy that has largely stopped opening and integrating in recent years,” which he said was holding back the growth needed to secure peace and prosperity.

"Trade and investment are not only drivers of global growth. They are also necessary and indispensible to expanding development, fuelling innovation, generating jobs and achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals," he argued.

He pointed to the success of recent multilateral trade agreements, such as an extension of the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement in June last year – a deal between 50 countries that aims to eliminate tariffs on 201 new product lines with a value of more than $1.3 trillion per year. He also said WTO members were looking to develop initiatives to enhance investment in e-commerce and grow the role played by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in global trade.

"Progress like this, however, is possible only when we recognise that the world economy has never been more interdependent and that no country, even the most powerful, can solve its trade and investment challenges on its own. The answer lies more, not less, in global cooperation," Agah argued.

"I believe that this is a message that the United Arab Emirates, by bringing together key investment and trade stakeholders at this important gathering, not only understands but is clearly acting on."

Agah's address followed the launch of a new UAE trade portal designed to track foreign direct investment (FDI) - both from other countries into the UAE and investments made by UAE institutions globally. It also provides information on potential investment opportunities into the UAE.

Earlier, the UAE Minister of Economy, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, told the meeting that although the outlook for the global economy remained positive, with a January forecast by the International Monetary Fund of 3.9 percent global gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2018, investment flows between countries declined last year.

"Global FDI fell by 16 percent in 2017 to an estimated $1.52 trillion, according to the latest UNCTAD Global Investment Trends Monitor," Al Mansoori said in his speech at the event. “However, a reading in the Global Investment Flows map shows that developing countries maintained stable rates of FDI attraction compared to last year," he added.

Sami Al Qamzi, director-general of Dubai's Department for Economic Development, argued in his address that Dubai remained "wholeheartedly committed to the policy of openness that we have pursued for decades".

He said that Dubai attracted 27.3 billion UAE dirhams ($7.4 billion) worth of investment last year - a 7.1 percent increase on 2016.

"Dubai has thus maintained its position among the top 10 international cities in attracting foreign investment, becoming host to 367 new investment projects, a 50 per cent increase over 2016," Al Qamzi said.

(Writing by Michael Fahy; Editing by Shane McGinley)
(michael.fahy@thomsonreuters.com)

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