Dubai: Dubai Investment Week 2017 officially opened Monday with the objective of introducing 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.
The event organised by Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of Dubai Economy was inaugurated by Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai.
The opening day of the Week witnessed the launch of the ‘Dubai Advantage’ report, aimed to provide the local and international investor community with an overview of the ambitious developments taking place in Dubai.
The “Future Health Index,” in which the UAE has been ranked first for the second consecutive year in terms of smart health care application readiness, was also launched at the event. The global research index, supported by Philips International, has 23 countries ranked every year by independent and specialised research firms. Another initiative launched at the event was the ‘Centre for Sustainability in Research and Education,’ the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region, established by the Modul University Dubai.
Addressing the delegates Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy (Dubai Department of Economic Development), said Dubai will soon launch a specialised centre to explore the future of investment and promote the role of impact investment.
“Over the last 25 years, Dubai Economy has succeeded in establishing a rich and attractive economic environment, encouraging major international institutions to make Dubai their regional hub. Dubai Economy is keen to move forward, achieve sustainable development and maintain a competitive environment by developing appropriate frameworks and applying global best practices,” Al Qamzi said.
The launch of the Hamdan Centre for the Future of Investment is aimed at channelling foreign direct investment into sustainable development.
“The ‘Hamdan Centre for the Future of Investment’ (HCFI) would provide a new and unique model for global partnerships aimed at developing and financing sustainable investment projects and assessing their economic, social and environmental impact,” said Al Qamzi.
HCFI is fully aligned to the development approach adopted by the Government of Dubai, which is based on a series of important principles, the most important of which is the principle of partnership between the private and public sectors. “This [public private partnership] has opened the doors for local and international private sector institutions to participate in laying the foundation for a comprehensive renaissance, and towards strong partnerships based on trust and mutual respect with the international business community, which sees Dubai as a promising location” Al Qamzi said.
Dubai FDI as an organisation is working hard to create an environment conducive to the success, growth and expansion of business, with innovative and modern solutions that meet the aspirations of current and future investors. “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.
City of the Future
Dubai is building an efficient infrastructure as well as a competitive economic and legislative framework that continues to evolve to meet the needs of the present while also leading Dubai to the future.
“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 Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI
Referring to the emirate’s strong commercial and cultural links to fast-growing regional markets Al Gergawi said that the logistics infrastructure in the emirate 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.
The ‘Dubai Investment Week’ will be continue till October 19, bringing 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.
Dubai Impact FDI Awards announced
On the opening day of the Dubai Investment Week 2017, winners of the Dubai Impact FDI Awards were announced. From now on the award will be a regular feature of Dubai Investment Week’ every year.
“It (the Award) is the first of its kind in the world, relying entirely on economic, social and environmental impact assessment data for investment projects, using the advanced data analytics of the Dubai FDI Monitor, the first city-based FDI measurement system, which is also a proud achievement for Dubai,” said Sami Al Qamzi.
Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum along with Al Qamzi and Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, honoured the winners of the inaugural Dubai Impact FDI Award
Winners included Brookfield (Largest Greenfield Investment in Dubai) Alibaba Cloud Services (Largest High-Technology Investment into Dubai), and Amazon (Largest M&A Investment into Dubai).
