Dubai, UAE, 5 April 2018: Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) will play an important role in meeting economic and sustainable development goals, said HE Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade, UAE Ministry of Economy, during a press conference on April 2 for announcing the upcoming Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), to be held from April 9 to 11 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. AIM, Al Saleh said, began eight years ago when the world faced a financial crisis and FDIs were considered to play a vital role in supporting economic growth. The event, he said, became a platform allowing the private sector and key decision-makers to meet, prepare investment opportunities, discuss barriers facing investors and share updates on global investment policies. Developing and emerging countries, Al Saleh said, started to work to improve the investment environment through FDIs, and the UAE was viewed as having strong potential having economic relations with different countries around the world.

Speaking on the council’s role as a strategic partner, HE Jamal Al Jarwan, Secretary General of UAE International Investors Council, said that during the last board meeting, Egypt, Russia, China, India and Greece were named five of the most important investment destinations for Emiratis.

Egypt, Al Jarwan emphasised, will soon be back on the investment map, owing to government policies attracting investment, as well as India, owing to its longstanding and strategic relationship with the UAE. AIM, Al Jarwan said, will see the attendance of notable people from the public sector and will provide a strong platform to discuss the potential these five countries hold.

The conference, Al Saleh said, will also touch on e-commerce, digital platforms and block chain and their role in further attracting FDIs by creating a more transparent business environment for the foreign investor. Al Saleh said that obstacles facing FDIs worldwide must be discussed and tackled by imposing new policies to enhance FDIs, as they are important for global development. Innovation, he added, also plays a vital role.

Ahmad Mohammad bin Ghannam, Acting Executive Director, International Economic Relations, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, said that communication is an important aspect of the AIM, and that Abu Dhabi, alongside the companies under the investment office, is working to coordinate efforts between government institutes, semi- government institutions and private sector to attract new investors to Abu Dhabi. “We are also coordinating with our colleagues in the federal and local government to help provide the investor with information on all available opportunities in Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general,” he said. It is their vision, he said, to position the emirate as an international investment destination and help FDI by encouraging different sectors. During their participation he said, they are going to introduce investment opportunities and general trends in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, he said, Abu Dhabi is set to announce new policies to encourage investment targeting specific sectors and helping exporters to benefit from potential and opportunities the emirate has to offer.

Salah Rashed Alansari, Advisor, Dubai FDI, expressed eagerness at the agency’s participation in AIM. During the event, he said, a presentation about the Hamdan Centre will be made to attract investment and investment programmes, and they will highlight existing opportunities in Dubai to the global investment community.

Dawood Al Shezawi, Chief Executive Officer, Annual Investment Meeting Organising Committee, emphasised the significant uptake in the number of visitors, exhibitors, companies and sponsors since 2011. For this year’s edition, Al Shezawi said, there will be specialised workshops and activities to empower people in the FDI, as well as special training courses. The conference, he said, will focus on attracting specific countries, and there will be a parallel event to promote investment in China. The conference, he said, will see leaders and experts in FDI and various business sectors. There will also be presentations from Egypt and India, among others, he said. Al Shezawi also touched on AIM Start-up, which features 50 of the best start-ups, competitions and financial rewards for winning participants.