Since a decade, The UAE has been one of Malaysia’s main trading partners in this region among the GCC countries. Bilateral trade reached USD 5 billion in 2020 despite the repercussions of the covid-19 and the global economic slowdown. Trade between the two countries is expected to increase, which indicates a huge economic potential to explore as both countries are considered as Hubs in their regions. The field of investments is another major potential for both countries. UAE companies such Mubadala and OSC have investments in Malaysia which exceed US$1.2 billion (Dr4.4 billion) in the Oil and Gas sector, while many companies such as Serba Dinamik Holdings has a strong presence in the UAE. Both countries have good opportunities for investments due to the conducive business environments they provide.
As a mark of close relations between the UAE and Malaysia, there have been recent visits to the UAE by Malaysian top officials with leaders from both countries expressing strong commitment to double joint efforts to tackle the negative impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic and move bilateral relations to the next level. The visit of the Prime minister of Malaysia Tan Sri Dato' Haji Muhyiddin bin Haji Muhammad Yassin to the UAE in March 2021 focused on promoting Trade & Investments, food security, halal products development, and more collaboration in oil and gas sector as well as post covid-19 tourism recovery plans.
