DCCI urges Swiss business community to benefit from the competitive package of facilities in Dubai

Those words came in a meeting between the top officials of DCCI and a high caliber Swiss trade delegation headed by Mr. Jean-Daniel Gerber, Director of State Secretariat of Economy & Director of Foreign Trade Directorate of Switzerland, in the presence of Mr. Abdulhamid Ahmed Seddiqi, Member of the Board of Directors at DCCI, Mr. Abdulrahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee, the Director-General.

The Swiss delegation included Mr. Hans Hauser, the Consul-General of Switzerland in UAE, Mr. Wafa Y. Hajjawi, the Commercial Attache and a large trade delegation representing the biggest Swiss companies.

With about 45 Swiss companies operating in Dubai, the "Switzerland Business Hub", under the supervision of the Swiss Consulate-General, is one step above the traditional entity of a commercial office- according to the Swiss officials in a precedent meeting with DCCI officials. A "Swiss Horizon" event was held in Dubai three years ago, highlighting the strong commercial and economical relationships and the active interaction between the business communities in both Dubai and Switzerland.

Mr. Al Ghurair emphasized that the two countries have maintained for decades excellent and progressive economic relationships. "We are confident that stronger business and economic relations between Dubai and Switzerland can further be realized through the close cooperation between business establishments in our two friendly countries", he said.

"Stronger and diversified bilateral trade is an essential element in boosting the overall business relations between Dubai and Switzerland. It creates a conductive magnitude for exploiting the existing business opportunities. The targeted level of business relations could be realized by introducing promotional efforts to be carried by organizing trade delegations, business missions and encouraging business enterprises to participate in the international fairs and exhibitions held in Dubai and Switzerland", Mr. Al Ghurair mentioned.

Referring to the newly 'Swiss Business Hub' in Dubai, Mr. Al Ghurair assured that DCCI will encourage its members to establish active links with their Swiss counterparts. "The main target is to boost further our non-oil bilateral trade, which have shown excellent growth trend during the recent years. We will also encourage our members to establish joint venture projects with Swiss entrepreneurs.

The total non-oil trade between Dubai and Switzerland touched its highest level in the year 2003 value US$ 1.8 billion. "We anticipate higher levels of trade flows in coming few years", he mentioned.

Mr. Al Ghurair stressed that "Dubai is witnessing phenomenal economic boom covering the entire economic activity. The construction sector, infrastructure, information technology & communication, tourism industry and Small & Medium high tech. manufacturing industries, banking and financial services and other vital service activities represent the core of our economic activities. Considering these positive developments, we invite the Swiss business sectors and investors to consider investing in these sectors".

He added that setting up warehousing and distribution centers at Dubai Free Zones with 100 percent ownership and competitive package of facilities to supply the UAE, Gulf region and other traditional markets of Dubai is an other economically viable open.

Mr. Gerber praised the progressive advancement witnessed in Dubai as well as the high speed of achievement acknowledged by the whole world.

"There are a lot of incredible projects and sophisticated service systems that have been arisen in your country over the past few years", he said.

He stressed that the Swiss Business Hub in Dubai will create a lot of business opportunities and inspire a plenty of venture projects with UAE and Gulf region businessmen, especially that 95 % of the business in Switzerland are medium size enterprises.