Dubai records 54pc growth in non-oil trade

ABU DHABI, Sept 9 (Xinhua) The volume of non-oil direct foreign trade of Dubai, the commercial and financial hub of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reached 296.6 billion dirhams (80.8 billion US dollars) in the first half of 2008, up 54 per cent over the same period of 2007. brThe figures were released by the statistics department of the Dubai World, a holding company that manages a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Dubai government. brAccording to the release, Dubai's exports and re-exports stood at 20.1 billion and 70.3 billion dirhams respectively in the first half of 2008, up 59.1 per cent and 57.7 per cent over the 2007 period.