Dubai Chamber Exports up 16.4% at November 2011

Members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry witnessed a jump in their exports and re-exports by 16.4% from the start of the year to the end of November, compared to the total of the entire 12 months of 2010, stated H.E. Hisham Al Shirawi, 2nd Vice Chairman, Dubai Chamber. Speaking to a group of businessmen and representatives of the private sector at Dubai Chamber’s fourth Economic Seminar of 2011, His Excellency said that between January and November exports and re-exports reached AED 225 billion in comparison to AED 193.4 billion registered during the same period last year while the monthly data shows that members’ exports and re-exports in November valued at AED 18.9 billion with an increase of 2.4% in contrast to November 2010. The certificates of origin issued by Dubai Chamber from January to November this year reached 639,000 which clearly showed the strong performance of the trade sector this year.

His Excellency said: “As part of our commitment to support the business community, Dubai Chamber provides its members with up-to-date information and statistics about current economic conditions which help them make right business decisions. This latest economic seminar imparts valuable information which businesses can use to expand their trade and be a competitive force in the business world.” The seminar discussed two important topics: Europe Economic Prospects for 2012 and Africa’s Economic Takeoff and Sustainability. The first presentation stated that the majority of advanced economies are experiencing slow recovery along with persistent unemployment rates and financial vulnerability which are ultimately affecting the consumers’ purchasing power and investment by businesses. It further stated that the GCC countries are better placed than their European counterparts due to the banks’ liquidity and the resilient economic growth which is projected for 2012 on the back of rising oil production.

The presentation revealed that Dubai’s core activities of tourism, trade, and retail sales will be the key drivers for economic growth in 2012. Most importantly however, the banks in UAE have now firmly repositioned themselves to withstand the European sovereign debt crisis. In addition, according to the latest figures the real estate market in the UAE appears to have bottomed out, and significant progress has been made in corporate restructuring but the sector’s solid economic growth, the presentation said, is subject to the expected turnaround in the real estate market. Based on the latest forecasts by the International Institute of Finance (IIF) the UAE economy will grow by 4.4% in 2011, speeding down to 3.1% in 2012. The average headline inflation in the country is forecasted to marginally increase to 0.9% in 2011 reaching 2.1% in 2012. In regional comparison, UAE economy will be among the fastest growing countries in the GCC region in 2011.

The second presentation examined Africa’s economic outlook and potential business opportunities that the UAE and Dubai businesses can benefit from. It discussed the continent’s population growth which will reach 1.5 billion by 2050 and estimated that 200 million Africans will enter consumer goods markets with rising spending power. The presentation also showed how the continent has managed to maintain a continuous economic growth between 2000 and 2010 when the cumulative annual economic growth rate averaged 5.7% between 2000 and 2008, more than twice its pace in 1980s and 1990s. The continent has weathered the global downturn better than most other parts of the world and is projected to grow by 5.1% and 5.8% in 2011 and 2012, respectively – faster than Latin America and other advanced economies.

The growth of the continent is considered to be robust and healthy as the average inflation rate is reduced from 27% in the 1990s to less than 8% between 2003 and 2007 and projected to be around 6% for coming next 5 years. As a result of the persistent economic growth, many sectors in the African region are booming and flourishing, such as telecom, banking, retailing and construction. Africa’s growth is accredited to a bunch of factors that include government decisions to end wars, prudent macroeconomic management and creating favourable business environment, and reorientation of the countries’ trade towards emerging markets, infrastructure spending which amounted to about USD 45.3 billion a year and absorbed about 5% of total GDP in 2009, private sector participation in infrastructure represented about 21% of total infrastructure investments.

This remarkable economic prospect bears huge trade and investment opportunities for UAE businesses. In its conclusion, the presentation stated that given the UAE historical relationship with the country and the current policy direction to trade and investments in Africa it is expected that the UAE businesses and economy will benefits significantly from doing business with Africa.