Dubai Chamber organizes its second Economic Seminar in 2009
The Seminar highlights the current economic climate and discusses the need for new Export markets
Dubai Chamber of Commerce and industry organized today (Tuesday) its second economic seminar of the year 2009 at its premises to discuss three important topics which are the current Economic Climate & Perspectives for Recovery, the Business Leaders Expectations Survey and the Export Performance and the need for new exports markets.
HE Eng Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry inaugurated the seminar which was attended by Dr. Belaid Rettab, Executive Director, Economic Research and Sustainable Business Development Sector of Dubai Chamber and a crowd of traders and businessmen in Dubai.
In his welcome speech, Buamim noted that the government intervention in terms of monetary and fiscal policy along with the support for SME’s will ensure that a smooth recovery will take place in the second half of this year and leading onto 2010.
Buamim added that Dubai Chamber spares no effort to serve the business community in all ways, and help strengthen the trading sector’s competitiveness locally and internationally as the Chamber is always striving to provide the business community with the latest information on trading trends and future prospects for businesses to plan their strategies according to the market conditions.
The Director General of Dubai Chamber praised the recent announcement of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai of cutting down a number of fees levied by the emirates’ government by 20 to 30%, and ordering government departments in the emirate of Dubai not to increase any government fee. Buamim valued the announcement as a step forward to enhance government’s support to the investment environment and reflect the government’s keenness for bolstering the economic competitiveness of Dubai.
Buamim stressed that information has become one of the most important commodities traded all over the world and that Dubai Chamber strives to provide the business community with all information needed to play its role in the development cycle of Dubai.
The 1st presentation “The Current Economic Climate and Perspectives for Recovery” examined UAE’s economic growth prospects in light of the recent downturn since mid 2008 and the policy implications that have risen from the crisis, in addition to shedding light on the current assessment of the economy and the possible policy recommendations in order to increase aggregate demand, employment and hence economic growth.
The 2nd presentation “The Business leaders Expectations Survey” focused on the general business outlook, the problems faced by the businesses and the expectations of business leaders regarding factors such as access to financial services, debt collection and operating receipts.
The 3rd presentation” The Export Performance and The Need for New Export Markets” covered the main trends in exports and the challenges facing Dubai export markets in addition to exploring the justifications for the Dubai exporters to expand into new markets in the context of the current global crisis.
According to the 1st presentation, UAE GDP will contract by -0.7% in 2009 but with the prospect of current increases in oil prices in the second half of 2009, liquidity will improve and extra government expenditure should lead to a period of robust growth in 2010 and beyond. The presentation showed that inflation is set to plunge this year, with international agencies forecasting headline inflation figures between 2-5% which will allow the government to focus entirely on stimulating economic activity and free up credit markets as housing costs have been the main driver of inflation in recent years, but it is expected that inflation will plunge as a result of falling commodity and rental prices.
The April 2009 business leader’s expectations Survey showed that the assessment of actual performance has achieved some improvements compared to that of the previous months and that some factors such as access to financing, total receipts by companies and the operating expenses received improved expectations. It was noted that the improvement in the category of access to financing indicated that expectations regarding liquidity are improving.
Business leaders expected certain factors to limit their operations in the summer period and these factors include stiff price competition, payment defaults by debtors and low global demand. Those factors were mentioned by 67% of the respondents in the survey. Expectations for April and May reflected a relatively increasing business confidence than the first three months of the current year.
The Survey indicated that the business leaders look up to the government for policies and actions that would make the business conditions more favorable and these actions, according to them, should address financial constraints, access to government services and market efficiency and transparency.
The third presentation showed that exports from Dubai have declined since October 2008 according to the Certificates of Origin Data as the outlook for the major exports destinations and world’s top importers point towards contracting economic and trade activities. Dubai Chamber, based on its statistics recommended that the exporters need to expand their reach into new exports markets to sustain profitability and growth levels. It was announced also during the economic seminar that the Chamber is launching an exporter guide to highly profitable potential markets across the globe.
