The Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), the investment development agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai, has kicked off its 2019 Global Promotional Investment Program with a visit to major US cities.

The tour, in line with Dubai’s continuing leadership to attract investments from key global markets, began on March 9 and will run until March 16.

The mission is scheduled to visit Los Angeles, California and Denver, Colorado in the US, said a statement.

The tour is aimed towards strengthening bilateral relations with one of the most important global economic powers while also opening new markets in line with Dubai’s vision to promote economic diversification, it said.

The organisation of the Promotional Investment Mission falls in line with Dubai FDI’s continuing efforts to establish partnerships with international investors--enabling them to expand and sustain their business through Dubai and highlight the opportunities for partnership and knowledge between the UAE and the US in the field of investment and exports.

This is the second time that Dubai FDI will be holding a promotional investment mission to these cities.

A total of 18 senior executives from key sectors are scheduled to participate in the Promotional Investment Mission, which is led by the Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI) and also including key agencies like the Dubai Exports, Dubai Science Park, Dubai South, Dubai Airport Freezone, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), The Emirates Group, US-UAE Business Council and UAE diplomatic representatives in the US.

The new mission continues to demonstrate Dubai’s strong capabilities as an ideal hub and gateway for businesses in the US keen to expand their reach in the UAE and the Middle East.

The mission focuses on promoting the opportunities and significant advantages available in the local market, including vital sectors that contribute to achieving the targets of Dubai’s industrial plan 2030 such as advanced manufacturing industries, including aerospace and medical life sciences, as well as food products, logistics and other fast-moving consumer goods.

Fahad Al Gergawi, chief executive officer, Dubai FDI, said: “We are convinced that Los Angeles and Denver hold exciting prospects for mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships between Dubai and the US.”

“Los Angeles is already a major exporter of varied agricultural produce, transportation equipment, computers, and electrical products as well as services in the software, legal and academic domains to the UAE. Denver also presents a rich platform to capitalise on Dubai’s focus on innovation, services and high-tech industries, over and above our existing trade and investment partnerships,” he said.

Al Gergawi continued: “During this mission, we hope that we will be able to showcase the opportunities offered by Dubai to foreign investors--where the emirate not only offers global communication opportunities but also an environment conducive to doing business for international companies working in different sectors and to show how US companies, particularly those working in export and business development, through leveraging from the many competitive advantages that encourage investment in Dubai as a regional or sub-regional centre for its business.”

“A major advantage for Dubai and the UAE is the stability and security we have continued to enjoy, and the government has built on those unique positives to develop a competitive business environment of which ease of doing business, transparency and accountability are the cornerstones. As a result, investors globally have expressed a growing confidence in Dubai,” he added.

Engineer Saed Al Awadi, chief executive officer, Dubai Exports, the exports development promotion agency of Dubai and one of the participants, said: “The US is an important market for Dubai and we do always support this type of activities.”

“US is one of the top five strategic trade partners for Dubai, and we do believe that the country is well located to be a gateway for US to reach other markets through,” he said.

Al Awadi added: “There is an also a strong trade in services as well as collaboration between companies in the two geographies. We see Dubai well placed to allow US companies to expand into the wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region from the emirate whilst allowing the UAE companies to benefit excellent connectivity to capitalise on opportunities in the Americas.”

The Dubai delegation’s previous Promotional Investment Mission to LA was a key success, which sought to follow on a recently signed MoU with Los Angeles City, and is currently performing well in vital sectors including electric vehicles, video games, e-commerce, IT and social media, academia, healthcare, clean technologies and sustainability, media and creative industries, among others.

In 2017, exports to the UAE from LA was valued at $834.6 million while from the state of California, it reached to $1.516 billion.

In Denver, the group will further extend its talks on current agreement signed under a MoU with the City of Denver, including ongoing discussions with Emirates airline. Denver is known for its strength in key industries such as aerospace, broadcast and telecommunications, healthcare and wellness, financial services, bioscience, energy, and IT-software.

The US Department of Commerce’s latest data shows that the inter-regional trade volume between the UAE and US reached $21.8 billion from January to November 2018, with US exports to the UAE being valued at $17.2 billion.

Meanwhile, UAE’s exports to the US have amounted to $4.6 billion during the same period. The Global Promotional Investment Program is a continuing initiative aimed at attracting investments and promoting Dubai as one of the most important investment destinations in the region and the world.

Topmost executives among the delegates include Fahad AlGergawi, CEO, Dubai FDI; Saed AlAwadi, CEO, Dubai Exports; Abdulla AlSaboosi, Consul General, UAE Consulate General; Ahmed bin Sulayem, executive chairman, DMCC; Marwan Abdulaziz, CEO, Dubai Science Park; Tahnoon Saif, CEO Aviation, Dubai South; Mohsen Ahmad, CEO Logistics, Dubai South; Karim Gamal, UAE Embassy, Washington; Ibrahim Ahli, director Investment Promotion, Dubai FDI; Al Hinton, Advisor, Dubai FDI; Jamal Marghoob, senior sales director, Dafza; Kalyani Ravi (Denver only), senior sales executive, Emirates PNR; Veronica Cuevas (LA only), senior sales executive, Emirates PNR; John Lieu, (LA only), senior sales executive, Emirates PNR; Jannie Davel, vice president commercial cargo, Emirates SkyCargo; Danny Sebright, president, US-UAE Business Council.

The latest data from the Dubai FDI Monitor indicates that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from the US into Dubai in 2018 reached Dh14.3 billion ($3.9 billion), with a total of 121 projects for US foreign direct investment--making the US the topmost investor in both terms.

The data also reveals that foreign direct investment (FDI) from the US was concentrated in the accommodation and food service sectors, retail and wholesale trade, administration of support services, software publishers, and management of companies and enterprises. – TradeArabia News Service