The UAE and Saudi Arabia will increasingly focus their oil exports on industrialising economies in Asia, in line with a transformation of international trade flows towards emerging markets, according to a report by HSBC and Oxford Economics.
Both of the Gulf countries will remain major oil producers during the next two decades, although Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest oil producer - will gradually diversify its export trade into other sectors where it is also competitive, such as plastics and chemicals, the report said.
While maintaining petroleum exports, the UAE is expected to have the tenth largest growth in merchandise exports in the world between 2021-30.
Emerging Asian economies, where demand for raw materials is expected to rapidly expand, also are expected to constitute the fastest source of export growth for Egypt as it sees petroleum overtake chemicals as its major export.
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