dubai chamber hosts dubai-hamburg business forum 2007
The Forum Enhances Bilateral Economic Ties and Cooperation between Dubai & Hamburg in Several Sectors
The activities of the Dubai-Hamburg Business Forum 2007, jointly organized by Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, were yesterday kicked off at Dubai Chamber’s premises. The Forum represents an important stage in the growing bilateral economic ties between the two countries, and a new start for an effective mutual cooperation between Dubai and Hamburg in a number of vital economic sectors which helped develop the two cities as business hubs.
The Forum was attended by HE Hisham Abdullah Al Shirawi, Vice-Treasurer and Board Member of Dubai Chamber, along with a number of Board Members and the Director General, in addition to representatives of top economic establishments, business leaders and decision makers from Dubai. HE Dr. Karl-Joachim Dreyer, President of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, HE Professor Dr. Hans-Jorg Schmidt-Trenz, CEO of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, and more than 70 CEOs and representatives of major German companies from Hamburg that deal in aviation, energy, logistics, banking and finance have also attended.
Organizing and hosting this significant event by Dubai Chamber on October 23-24 goes in line with its mission and vision in supporting Dubai business community, protecting its interests and enhancing its competitive advantages through helping them expand their international relations with counterparts. The Forum aims at enhancing mutual cooperation between the business communities of Dubai and Hamburg in different economic, trade and industrial fields and learning and benefiting from the business and investment opportunities available in both countries to realize a comprehensive concept of economic integration between the two cities.
The Forum started with a speech delivered by HE Hisham Al Shirawi, Vice-Treasurer and Board Member of Dubai Chamber, in which he stressed Dubai Chamber’s commitment to improve the relations of Dubai business community with their Hamburg counterparts.
“Organizing this Forum in cooperation with Hamburg Chamber provides an excellent opportunity for the business communities in Dubai and Hamburg to learn more about the thriving business culture and endless opportunities of expansion between the two cities. It also provides a platform of debate and growth on various important sectors and intends to attract branch oriented business-to-business companies from Hamburg and Dubai,” said Al Shirawi.
In his speech, HE Eng. Hamad Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber, praised the developing trade ties between Dubai and Hamburg, stressing the Chamber’s interest in helping its members and businessmen to enhance relations with their counterparts in Hamburg, providing them with information and urging them to participate in trade exhibitions and economic forums which the Dubai Chamber organizes overseas.
He highlighted the strategic importance Dubai has gained as an international hub for non-oil products in the Middle East thanks to its open economic policy and adoption of diversification of income resources and developing infrastructure to create an ideal business environment. He also stressed Dubai’s continual interest in attracting foreign direct investments through establishing major investment clusters such as Dubai Media and Internet Cities, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai Maritime City, Dubai Logistics City, Jebel Ali Free Zone, in addition to a large number of mega projects such as Nakheel, The World islands and Dubai World Central which all encourage the attraction of direct investments to compete globally.
“Dubai’s economic growth is attributed to the Government support to the public & private sectors. Dubai recorded a 9% rise in its non-oil foreign trade in 2006 reaching AED 523 billion ($ 143 billion), whereas Dubai’s non-oil trade with Germany reached AED 24 billion ($ 6.5 billion) in 2006, compared to AED 21.1 billion ($ 5.5 billion) in 2005,” said Buamim.
He gave some hints about the development features of a number of economic sectors in Dubai such as aviation, banking & finance, energy, logistics, maritime, healthcare and foreign trade. He said that business leaders from Dubai and Hamburg will discuss issues related to these sectors and discover the potential areas of cooperation between the two cities.
HE Dr. Karl-Joachim Dreyer, President of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, expressed his Chamber’s commitment to cooperate with Dubai Chamber in making the Forum a success, adding that it offers a chance for the Hamburg business forum to learn more about its Dubai counterpart. He pointed out the similarities between the two chambers in terms of the universities both chambers run and the commercial arbitration services offered to the business communities, as well as the support they received form their respective governments.
“Organizing the Forum in cooperation with Dubai Chamber goes in line with the strategic cooperation between the two chambers aiming to enhance the relations between the business communities in both cities. Dubai and Hamburg enjoy having two busy and active harbors acting as gateways to the world for their respective countries, and facilitating the entry of goods, services and companies from all over the world. Dubai and Hamburg are internationally renowned trading hubs offering logistics facilities of worldwide importance,” said Dr. Dreyer.
He noted that big Hamburg-based companies like Beiersdorf and Lufthansa Technik AG have offices and branches in Dubai, in addition to over 400 companies from Hamburg which maintain strong business relations with Dubai and the UAE such as Jos. Hansen & Soehne, which is considered the oldest Germany trading company in the UAE.
“One of the motors of our good cooperation is the Hamburg’s representative office in Dubai which contributed to attracting many German companies to set up offices in Dubai. Furthermore, the opening of direct flights between Dubai and Hamburg by the Emirates Airlines is the best sign for the intensity of our bilateral relations,” he added.
He said that the Forum provides a platform to enhance relations and exchange ideas and experiences between the businessmen from both countries, as the expected cooperation between Dubai and Hamburg in sectors like banking & finance, foreign trade and logistics, aviation and maritime, healthcare and energy represent essential foundation to enhance trade partnership between the two cities.
The sessions of the Forum included a number of lectures, presentations and discussions on the potential areas of cooperation between Dubai and Hamburg in the sectors concerned. In regards to the banking and finance sector, experts believed that both cities could cooperate in terms of enhancing the role of financial and commodities markets and the tools that Dubai businessmen could use to access the European markets through the gateway of Hamburg. They see a room for cooperation in financing ships and real estates and exchanging of expertise in banking and finance.
The experts also praised the development of the healthcare sector in Dubai and the strong interest of achieving an effective integration in the healthcare sector with Hamburg through benefiting from the German medical expertise.
There is also a room for cooperation between Hamburg and Dubai in the maritime sector since both cities enjoy active and busy seaports of cargo and passengers. Dubai could also export manufactured parts of ships and related raw materials to Germany thanks to the iron and steel factories available in the UAE. Two thirds of Hamburg’s foreign trade, estimated at Euro 68 billion, is generated by exporting commodities and cooper ores, electrical appliances, tropical fruits, textiles, aircrafts, medical equipment and chemical products. All that helped Dubai in being Germany’s gateway to the Middle East as the UAE became the biggest trade partner of Germany in this region.
For the energy sector, experts see a room for cooperation between Dubai and Hamburg in producing renewable energy benefiting from the global reputation of Hamburg in producing and utilizing renewable energy technologies generated by the sun and wind, and because the UAE enjoys a warm and sunny weather throughout the year.
Concerning the aviation sector, the experts also believe that cooperation could be established between the two cities in terms of training and learning the manufacturing and repair of aircrafts, in addition to producing raw materials by Dubai to supply Hamburg with aluminum which Airbus and Lufthansa companies need. The UAE is also considered an important center for maintenance of Airbus and Boeing aircraft parts, especially with the establishment of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise which laid a strong foundation for aviation industry in Dubai. Moreover, Hamburg is considered the world’s third largest center for building and repairing aircrafts after Seattle in the US and Toulouse in France.
