The coverage of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) is the highlight of this Tuesday (9) ANBA Bulletin. The conference on foreign direct investment (FDI) runs until Wednesday (10) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, featuring government representatives, investors, entrepreneurs, and multilateral organizations. The forum’s central theme are investments in digital economy.

Our special envoy Thais Sousa reports that one of the panels evidenced the importance of fintechs for small enterprises’ financing. “For the last five years, fintechs have grown by 50% per year. Last year, they yielded USD 60 billion,” said Qamar Saleem (right at the picture), from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank branch for the private sector.

It was clear that international investors are interested in startups but for the business to attract resources, it must be relevant in its home country. “We have investments in companies that evolve and make a difference as they grow locally,” stressed Dubai Angel Investors chairman Abdullah Mutawi. This is the direct connection between global capital and local businesses.

The fight against protectionism, the importance of the digital economy for development, and China’s “New Silk Road” have also been addressed at the conference.

Learn also that the survey “Business and Investment Relations Between Brazil and the Arab Countries,” commissioned by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and made by H2R Pesquisas Avançadas, was picked for presentation at Esomar Latin America 2019, a congress on research, data and innovation that took place on Monday (8) in São Paulo.

And check also that Egypt has eased its sanitary rules on poultry imports. Exporters are not required anymore to hire an Egyptian-accredited veterinarian to inspect the process from slaughter to delivery at the port of shipping. According to Arab Brazilian Chamber president Rubens Hannun, this may mean a 10% reduction on poultry export costs.