Minister of Foreign Trade Sheikha Lubna commends Russia's economic resurgence at 2nd Russian Investment Roadshow

The Dubai version of the Roadshow, a new concept of the renowned Russian Economic Forum, will be co-organised by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Russia's most influential business lobby. Each Roadshow, which travels the world every six months, explores Russia's expanding role as a global economic player and the opportunities being created for foreign investors in Russia and for Russian companies investing abroad. During her speech, H.E. Sheikha Lubna spoke about Russia's economic and commercial resurgence.

"Russia's impressive rebound has naturally boosted business and investor confidence in its economic prospects. In fact, foreign direct investments to the country ballooned from Dhs53.7bn in 2005 to approximately Dhs165.3bn in 2007. Russia continues to encourage overseas investors to capitalize on its investment advantages, which include easy access to countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States; a technology-savvy and skilled workforce; an emerging middle class with significant disposable income; a rapidly developing construction industry; a burgeoning services market; and a rapidly growing franchise sector. As the world's largest country in terms of area, Russia also offers abundant natural resources that remain relatively untapped and thus entice exploratory and extractive ventures,"

said H.E. Sheikha Lubna.

More than 400 delegates are attending the Roadshow to learn more about Russia's business and investment offerings as well as crucial trends in global financial markets. The UAE Minister took the opportunity to call for a unified international approach to solving the current global financial crisis. She also discussed similar efforts being undertaken by the UAE to boost economic and business activities throughout the world.

"The views presented by Minister H.E. Sheikha Lubna were truly valuable in setting the proper tone for this current Roadshow. We particularly appreciated her discussion of how economic diversification has been a key driver for her country's phenomenal growth. Russia indeed can learn much from UAE's experiences; we thus look forward to stronger ties between these two countries and expect them to continue influencing the state of global economic affairs,"

concluded Sergei Kolushev, Managing Director of Eventica.

The UAE's internal investments in non-oil sectors such as agriculture, industrial operations, real estate and services has generated more than 60% of national revenues, a share that is expected to rise to 70% by 2010. This, along with free trade zones that feature state-of-the-art facilities, a tax-free environment, business-friendly commercial and industrial policies, and a strategic geographical location, make the UAE a highly attractive business and investment destination for rapidly evolving economies such as Russia.