Dubai Chamber Suhoor emphasizes on public-private sector partnership

The event, which is part of the Dubai Chamber's commitment to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Dubai was attended by HE Majed Al Shamsi, 1st Vice Chairman, HE Hisham Al Shirawi, 2nd Vice Chairman, HE Eng Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber; Council Generals, Councilors, heads of business groups, a host of VIP guests representing the business community in Dubai and members of the local and regional media.

Acknowledging the role of the Dubai Chamber in representing the business community of Dubai, HE Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri maintained that a number of new initiatives will be announced soon in a bid to stimulate the business environment, encourage foreign investments and enhance competitiveness.

Al Mansouri pointed out that the global financial crisis has brought into focus the investment opportunities available in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the renewable energy sector and Islamic banking, areas that are destined to play major roles in the economic development of the country.

He further stressed that the Ministry of Economy has set up the first UAE Forum for SMEs to enhance the contribution of the sector that can prove a major player in the country's GDP, particularly in the current economic situation.

He said the global trend is moving towards the adoption of alternative energy solutions and sustainable growth which the UAE Government has adopted wholeheartedly by hosting the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.

This initiative comes in line with the strategic objectives of the country's wise leadership to achieve the 7% of renewable energy sources as the country controls 10% of global oil reserves.

The financial crisis has also highlighted the importance of Islamic banking that focuses on the adoption of strong corporate governance procedures and a high level of transparency in the financial sector.

Al Mansouri revealed that the growth of Islamic banks is not limited to the UAE only; but at the global level there are today more than 300 Islamic banks spread over 90 countries around the world with an annual growth ranging from 10% to 15%.

"In its quest to protect and encourage the investment environment, the Government has initiated a draft law on foreign investment and is working on another draft law on competitive business environment to enhance the performance of businesses in the Emirate. The Ministry is also keen to develop the performance of the industrial sector and is aware of its impact on the economy, especially after investments reached Dhs2.3bn in 2009 over only Dhs1.92bn in 2008,"

said Al Mansouri.

Added Al Mansouri, "The Ministry has worked on a new industry law that aims to develop and support the industrial sector in the UAE and to enable it to deal with all economic variables. The new law, which is in its final stages, will contribute in regulating the sector and encourages the setting up of industrial projects including SMEs. The law is designed to encourage national industries and to enhance its quality. It will also encourage industrial integration which will encourage science research in addition to protecting the environment and applying corporate governance to the industrial projects in the country."

Al Mansouri said that the country's leadership is keen to strengthen partnership with the private sector as it looks forward to establish more free zones and to offer tax exemptions to stimulate the business environment and to attract global investors to the country's attractive infrastructure projects.

During his welcome speech, Buamim informed the gathering that despite the current global state of the economy, Dubai remains an extremely viable investment hub as it continues to push forward with its major infrastructure projects. The Dubai Metro, being launched tomorrow, reaffirms the city's commitment to excellence and its ongoing drive to deliver on its promises as this sends the right message to the business community that Dubai means business come what may.

Said Buamim, "We are confident that these initiatives will have a very positive effect on small and medium enterprises and will definitely provide the private sector with the right impetus it needs in these challenging times. The initiatives underline the sound foresight of our leadership and its commitment to the continued development of our Emirate's economy and growth."

Buamim further stressed that the Dubai government passed a decree reducing business licensing fees by up to 30% and froze other government charges in a move to stimulate economic activity and to support the overall investment environment.

The Government also established the Dubai Financial Support Fund to manage the proceeds of the $20bn (Dhs73.4bn) sovereign bond programme to ease tight liquidity conditions while the Federal Government abolished the minimum capital requirement for LLC companies as the Central Bank reduced the capital adequacy ratio from 11% to 7%.

Added Buamim, "I personally feel that the worst of the crisis for Dubai has almost ended and the overall economy is inspiring as indicated by lower rents, lower expenses of businesses, higher number of incoming passengers indicated by the 14% increase in the passenger traffic, 72% hotel occupancy, 17% increase in retail sales during the summer and 2% rise in air cargo from last year in direct comparison to the 20% decrease in the international air cargo. Our study on the second quarter indicates that our members' exports have gone up by 6.5% which is a good sign for the time to come."

Buamim also lauded the role of the media which he said is as important as any other economic sector as the media has been very proactive in positively highlighting the economic situation and giving out the true picture of the crisis.