Dubai Chamber Reviews the Emirates Economic Landscape with Diplomats

Al Ghurair: Building linkages and communicating with the diplomatic community is essential for the economic growth of Dubai Al Mutaiwee: Diplomats play a key role in forging partnerships between countries, that bring about long-term benefits and strengthen bilateral relationships

Buamim: We will continue to improve our customer experience and work towards supporting our members reach their goals

Dubai, UAE: As part of its efforts to introduce its partners and members of the diplomatic corps to its future plans as well as to inform them about the economic landscape of the emirate, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised Diplomatic Circle Dinner for ambassadors and members of the Arab and international diplomatic corps in the UAE at the Mina A’Salam Hotel in Dubai

The Event aligned with the Chamber’s strategy to highlight its past achievements and future direction while promoting Dubai as a preferred destination for business as well as to open new doors for constructive cooperation with global businesses.

The dinner meeting was attended by over 100 diplomats, in the presence of H.E Abdulrahman Al Mutaiwee, Director of the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Dubai Chamber Board Members led by H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman as well as H.E. Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber.

In his opening remarks, H.E Al Mutaiwee spoke about the recently launched 2017-2021 strategy, which is in line with the objectives outlined under the UAE Vision 2021.

He pointed out that the targets of exploring new sectors and achieving economic growth, cannot be met without the support of the diplomatic missions.

H.E Al Mutaiwee also mentioned that the strategy complements the efforts of UAE Ambassadors and diplomats who work to strengthen relations between the UAE and other fast-growing economies.

H.E. Al Ghurair welcomed the diplomats on behalf of Dubai Chamber and lauded them on their commendable efforts in identifying and facilitating business and mutual ties between the business communities of Dubai and their respective countries.

He also spoke briefly about the Chamber’s work which, with more than 201,000 members, has been pivotal in forging relationships regionally and internationally.

He urged the diplomats to keep the lines of communication open and to continue networking and building relationships.

On his part, H.E. Buamim gave a detailed overview of Dubai Chamber’s achievements in 2016 while shedding light on the Chamber’s approach in serving the business community in the coming months.

He echoed the Chairman’s sentiments on the synergies between the Chamber’s objectives and the work being done by diplomats to build linkages

“Trade remained the biggest contributor to Dubai’s economic growth last year, accounting for 30% of its GDP.

Dubai’s total non-oil foreign trade remained steady, reaching $348 billion, while we witnessed 14.9 million tourists in 2016. Dubai International Airport was the busiest airport for international passenger traffic with 86.3 million passengers,” he remarked.

All this, he said, has been possible due to the vision of the leadership and the Government’s focused efforts on building world-class infrastructure.

Moving on to the year that was for Dubai Chamber, H.E Buamim was pleased to point out 2016 was a good and busy year.

With 6000 delegations from 54 countries received and three new international offices in Kenya, Mozambique and China, Dubai Chamber’s initiatives to support the business community have been going strong.

The President and CEO of Dubai Chamber also spoke about the inaugural Global Business Forums on – Latin America and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), all part of the Chamber’s plan to explore new trade and investment opportunities. The Chamber will also be hosting the World Retail Congress for a second time in 2017.

He also mentioned that the Chamber will continue to foster a culture of innovation through its various initiatives.

He ended his speech by speaking about new strategy for 2017-2021 which is customer-centric and based on the core values of the Chamber, aimed at improving the business competitiveness of Dubai.