Plans to establish a Singaporean Business Council in Dubai

This was announced by H.E Harwindar Singh, the Consul General for Singapore in the UAE, when he was received by Mr. Abdul Rahman Ghanim Al Mutaiwee, the Director General of the DCCI, and accompanied by a delegation from "The International Singapore Projects" organization.

The delegation came with the aim to explore in general the Dubai experience and success in development and in becoming the main commercial and business centre in the Middle East, and the factors which helped Dubai achieve this goal. The delegation were also interested in discussing ways to consolidate relations between Dubai and Singapore which in turn is considered to be the commercial and business centre in the Far East. In the meeting, they also discussed ways to develop and activate the Singaporean businesses in Dubai and the region.

The Director General of DCCI praised the great constructive relations which link Dubai with Singapore, assuring that the emirate follows closely the successful leading experiments taking place in the neighboring countries, and learns from them to develop in a suitable way to Dubai.

"We don't try to compete with others as much as we try to establish original projects for everyone to benefit from, which makes the competition positive, and helps us develop our efforts to achieve our goals" commented Al Mutaiwee.

Al Mutaiwee explained briefly the role of the Chamber in establishing the Business Councils and Business Groups, and its role in developing the commercial and business projects in Dubai through consolidating communication between the businessmen and their counterparts in the various sectors, regionally and internationally.

The Director General also mentioned the important role of the Dubai Businesswomen Council in developing the local women in the commercial and business sectors, and increasing and strengthening their presence in the local and international markets.

Singapore has a trade office and centre which are active in consolidating commercial cooperation between the two countries. The non-oil trade between Dubai and Singapore reached around $256 million in 2002. The Dubai Chamber encourages the Singaporean investors to benefit from the facilities provided in Dubai.