UAE Joins 2026 BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting in Jaipur, Deepening Economic Ties

The United Arab Emirates took part in the 2026 BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting in Jaipur, India, reaffirming its commitment to open, rules-based commerce and to strengthening economic ties across the expanding bloc. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, led the delegation at the gathering held at the Maharani Mahal, Hotel Sawai Man Mahal, and was joined by Abdulla Al Nuaimi, UAE Ambassador to India.

Hosted by India under its 2026 BRICS chairmanship, the meeting brought together trade ministers and senior officials from across the bloc to discuss safeguarding the multilateral trading system, fostering inclusive trade, empowering micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and reshaping global value chains amid rapid digital transformation.

Al Zeyoudi framed the UAE’s participation against a backdrop of global economic strain. Cooperation between emerging markets and developing economies, he said, matters more than ever at a time of heightened uncertainty in global trade, describing BRICS as an important platform for supporting an open and predictable trading environment. Notably, trade ministers were unable to reach consensus on a joint declaration at the close of the meeting.

A web of bilateral talks

On the sidelines, Al Zeyoudi held a series of bilateral discussions with key counterparts, including India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Mohamed Farid Saleh, and Indonesia’s Trade Minister Budi Santoso, alongside representatives from South Africa and Russia.

The meeting with Goyal offered an opportunity to review progress under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), in force since May 2022, and to explore expanded cooperation in services trade, digital commerce, logistics and food security. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to trade facilitation and to strengthening private-sector collaboration in high-growth sectors.

Concern over shipping and the Strait of Hormuz

Al Zeyoudi also used the platform to voice the UAE’s grave concern over recent attacks on commercial shipping and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, urging its immediate reopening a pointed intervention given the strait’s central role in global energy and trade flows.

Trade by the numbers

Commerce between the UAE and BRICS nations continues to expand strongly. In 2025, bilateral non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and BRICS members surpassed US$312 billion, a 28.5 percent increase on the US$243 billion recorded in 2024. BRICS nations accounted for roughly 31 percent of the UAE’s total non-oil foreign trade for the year supplying 34 percent of its imports, receiving 23 percent of its non-oil exports, and making up 28 percent of its re-exports.

India remains one of the UAE’s largest trading partners globally, with bilateral non-oil trade reaching US$76.2 billion in 2025, up 17.3 percent on the previous year.

An expanding bloc

The BRICS community grew from five to nine members in 2024, with Indonesia joining as its tenth member in 2025. It now comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran and the UAE together representing about 40 percent of the world’s population and around a quarter of global GDP. For the UAE, membership reflects a broader strategy of expanding economic ties with partners across the developing world while advocating for an open and mutually beneficial trading system.