Abu Dhabi: BeNeLux (Belgium, Netherland and Luxembourg) Business Council in Abu Dhabi expects business between the three countries and the UAE to grow in the coming days as the UAE focuses on diversification of the economy in the wake of drop in oil prices.
Frank Wouters, Chairman of BeNeLux Business Council, said a growing share of the export from the BeNeLux countries is supporting the UAE’s drive towards diversification of the economy.
“The growth in trade will continue since more and more companies are discovering the UAE as interesting growth opportunity. A growing share of the export to the UAE is not directly linked to oil and gas, but is supporting the UAE’s drive towards diversifying the economy,” he told Gulf News in an interview on Thursday.
The bilateral trade between BeNeLux and the UAE has grown by about 16 per cent to 7 billion euros last year from 6 billion euros in 2013.
The main items that are being exported to the UAE are gemstones and precious metals, machinery, food products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
“Most of the gemstones are diamonds from Belgium, which constitute 40 per cent of Belgium’s export volume to the UAE,” Wouters said.
According to him, more than 700 companies from Belgium, Netherlands and the Luxembourg are operating in the UAE in oil and gas sector, construction and service industry.
Royal Dutch Shell, Six Construct, Phillips etc are some of the big companies that have presence in the UAE.
Belgian company Six Construct was associated with projects including Burj Khalifa, Shaikh Zayed Mosque and Yas Mall among others.
From the UAE, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has investments in Netherlands, managing storage facilities and in the exploration of oil and gas.
Taqa operates Bergermeer Gas Storage which is Europe’s largest, open-access gas storage, providing the Northwest European gas market with 46 terawatt-hours of seasonal storage capacity.
Established in 2010, the BeNeLux Business Council is a non-profit organisation that is trying to strengthen investment and business opportunities between the three countries and the UAE.
