São Paulo – It started this Monday (16th) and ends tomorrow (17th) the 17th Arab Investors and Businessmen Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The forum is promoted by the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries and by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to the CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, who is attending the event, innovation and creativity were the topics of the opening session. “Until the year 2025, the Arab world should generate around 50 million of direct jobs, but investments [in the region] are less in comparison to the development nations, with the exception being the Arabian Gulf”, said the executive.
According to him, investments in the Arab countries account to only 0.7% of the world total. The speakers defended the exchange of ideas between the Arab countries, the support to small and medium-sized companies, and investments in education and human resources. In the case of the UAE, the goal is to invest USD 18 billion in small and medium-sized businesses until 2021. Alaby pointed out that a company is considered to be small or medium-sized in the Gulf when it has less than 250 employees and an annual profit lower than USD 28 million.
Among the authorities that attended the opening were the minister of Finance of the UAE, Sultan Bin Saeed, the honorary president of the General Union of Arab Chambers, Adnan Kassar, the current president of the organization, Mohamadou Ould Mohamed Mahmoud, the president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Thani Al Rumaith, and the general director of the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation, Fahad Al Ibrahim.
Following the opening, in the first panel, which covered leadership and innovation, several speakers underscored that the reduction of red-tape for the approval of projects must be priority number one in the Arab world, according to Alaby. “Unfortunately, there are several government agencies responsible for the approval process, making it difficult the support for new enterprises”, said the executive.
Representatives of organizations of several countries talked about local initiatives. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, there’s the strategy of taking the processing industry to the top spots in the region until 2030. In the UAE, there are a series of goals set to be reached until 2025, with the main one being education.
Another acknowledgement is the lack of funding for innovation. “The financial system demands too much guarantees, which makes it difficult the access to funding, even those linked to the Islamic Development Bank”, said Alaby, referring to the development institution maintained by the Muslim nations.
The topic of the second session was entrepreneurship in agriculture, industry and energy sector. The conclusion was the same: lack of funding for entrepreneurial and innovative actions.
However, there are exceptions. Representatives of Mubadala, holding company from Abu Dhabi, with investments in several areas, said, for instance, that the company has been investing in agricultural projects in the UAE for the production of milk, dairies and wheat, in addition to having ventures worth USD 9 billion in the agriculture sector in neighboring countries. The company invests heavily also in the energy area, especially in renewable sources.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
