Abu Dhabi, Aug 7 (IANS) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the first Arab country to enter a list of the world’s 30 largest services importing nations. According to figures released by the Kuwait-based Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corp (IAIGC), an Arab League affiliate, the UAE is also the only Arab country among the top 30 importers of goods in 2007 after overtaking Saudi Arabia, which exited that list last year, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

Both Gulf countries were also on the list of the world’s top exporters of goods following a sharp increase in their crude and non-oil exports in 2007.

“In the services sector, no Arab country was in the 30-nation list of exporters. But the UAE entered the list of importers last year, ranking 29th in the list,” the report quoted the IAIGC statement as saying.

“Its services imports were estimated at $27 billion, accounting for 0.9 percent of the total global imports of services,” it said.

The US topped the list of services importers, with a value of around $336 billion or 11 percent of the total global imports, followed by Germany with $245 billion and a share of about eight percent.

Britain came third, with around $193 billion and a share of 6.3 percent.

The US also topped the services exporters list with an export value of about $454 billion and a share of 13.9 percent.

The report showed that the UAE was the world’s 28th largest importer of goods, with a value of around $121 billion and a share of 0.9 percent of the total global imports last year.

In exports, the UAE was ranked 24th on the list of top 30 exporters of goods, with an export value of $154 billion and a share of 1.1 percent.