Why Dubai is top on investors' minds

Dubai FDI, the foreign direct investment promotion agency of Dubai Economy, seeks to provide innovative and modern solutions that meet the aspirations of current and future investors, Sami Al Qamzi, director-general of Dubai Economy, said on Monday.

Speaking at the opening day of Dubai Investment Week, Al Qamzi said Dubai Economy is keen to move forward, achieve sustainable development and maintain a competitive environment by developing appropriate frameworks and applying global best practices. "The establishment of the 'Hamdan Centre for the Future of Investment' will help channel foreign direct investment globally into sustainable development," Al Qamzi said.

He pointed out that Dubai has maintained its position as the world's preferred destination for foreign direct investment, standing seventh in the world with total FDI inflows of Dh25.5 billion in 2016. "The emirate was also ranked third globally in terms of the number of FDI projects attracted during the same year, with 247 projects," said Al Qamzi.

The third edition of Dubai Investment Week, which opened on Monday, witnessed the launch of several innovative initiatives, including the 'Dubai Advantages' report and the 'Dubai Impact Investment Award'.

Organised by the Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), Dubai Investment Week 2017 seeks to introduce investors to Dubai's advantages as a strategic hub in the global economy, a gateway to regional growth markets and a leading smart and sustainable city of the future.

Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the Dubai Investment Week that will run till October 19. The event has brought together government and private sector leaders from the region and beyond, representatives of banks and investment funds, official delegations and international experts in a series of dialogues, workshops, closed meetings and field visits.

A 'leadership dialogue' on the opening day featured prominent government and private sector leaders including Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World and Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, and Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties. They were interviewed by Courtney Fingar, editor-in-chief of fDi Intelligence.

Sheikh Maktoum along with Al Qamzi and Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, honoured the winners of the inaugural 'Dubai Impact FDI Award'. Brookfield (Largest Greenfield Investment in Dubai), Alibaba Cloud Services (Largest High-Technology Investment into Dubai) and Amazon (Largest M&A Investment into Dubai) were the winners in each of the three award categories.

Al Qamzi said the 'Hamdan Centre for the Future of Investment' would provide a unique model for global partnerships aimed at developing and financing sustainable investment projects and assessing their economic, social and environmental impact.

"Dubai is a city of the future, a gateway to promising regional markets and a global hub for business - it has all the important drivers that boost the confidence of the local and international investor community," said Al Gergawi.

He said the logistics infrastructure in Dubai is among the best in the world and a bridge to a vast consumer market of over two billion people. "We are leveraging the Dubai Investment Week platform to keep abreast of the latest investment opportunities in the strategic and emerging economic sectors in the region and worldwide, to identify investor views and to develop policies that enhance future readiness," said Al Gergawi.

He said the mission of the Dubai Investment Week is not only to showcase investment opportunities in Dubai, but also to present current and future investment trends and ways to promote sustainable and competitive partnerships between local and global investors.

Source: Khaleej Times