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UAE’s farsighted, strategic investment policy commended

The United States and the UAE have had an exceptionally close economic relationship for many years, said Shakir Y. Farsakh, Principal Commercial Officer at the US Consulate General Dubai.

In an interview with Emirates News Agency, WAM, the US Commercial Attaché added, “Investment naturally follows trade and the United States and the UAE exchanged US$24 billion in bilateral trade in 2017.”

According to Fakhir, the UAE is the largest source of US foreign direct investment in the Gulf and the largest customer for American exports in the entire Middle East and North Africa region.

He went on to applaud the UAE government’s recent initiative to allow 100 percent foreign ownership of companies in certain sectors and “have no doubt that this will be a strong incentive for investment.”

“As you know, we have recently reduced corporate tax rates in the United States, which we believe will be an important incentive for US investment,” Fakher continued.

He went on to highlight the SelectUSA Investment Summit as a means to further expand on-going economic and investment ties between the two countries. Taking place in Washington DC from 20th-22ndJune, the Summit is the highest-profile event dedicated to promoting foreign business investment in the United States.

“Delegations from 64 countries are coming; the UAE delegation is the largest from the Arabian Gulf with at 28 members participating,” Fakher confirmed, adding that Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, will lead the UAE delegation during the Summit.

Hosted by the Department of Commerce, this year’s theme is ‘Invest Here. Grow Here. Succeed Here’. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo will deliver remarks on ‘Promoting Global Economic Prosperity’ during the event’s proceedings.

In 2016 stock of FDI from the UAE to the US totalled US$26.3 billion. The top industries in the US for Emirati FDI are financial services, transportation, fossil fuels, communications, and aerospace.

It is worth noting that aircraft, spacecraft and related parts were the top category of US exports ($6.5 billion), accounting for nearly 30 percent of total exports in 2016, reflecting the UAE’s position as a global commercial aviation hub.

The 2018 Summit’s focus on space economies and policy will allow for further exchange of expertise and investment opportunities to support the UAE’s burgeoning space programme ambitions.

“The UAE Government is to be strongly commended for its farsighted and strategic space programme. I am already aware of close collaboration between the UAE and such institutions as the University of Colorado and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and we hope and expect this cooperation to continue,” Fakher said.

He added that the United States recently eased the process for commercial entities to participate in space initiatives. “We are certain this will be an additional incentive for more activity,” Fakher affirmed.

The UAE Minister of Economy has recently said that that preliminary estimates issued by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, FCSA, indicate growth in the economic performance of the UAE, as a result of growth in oil resources, a rise in international oil prices and growth in non-oil sectors.

Commenting on the UAE’s changing attitudes towards reliance on oil-based economies, Fakher said, “There can be no doubt that green technologies offer a number of opportunities for technological advancement and economic growth.”

“The Foreign Commercial service is actively promoting the linkages between American and UAE green technology companies,” he concluded.

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