Dubai Chamber works to strengthen European relationships

During a delegation visit to the emirate on Aug. 6, some members from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry met with EU businessmen from six European countries.

Chamber leaders announced that the leading business facilitator is arranging more than 100 meetings between representatives from both groups to take place during the trip.

There are more than 51 business executives and decision makers from the U.K., Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Lithuania that make up the European delegation, headed by Peter Bishop, deputy chief of London Chamber. Representatives come from more than 10 different economic industries, including travel and leisure transport, business services and consultancy, tourism, construction, oil and gas, education, renewable energy, fashion and design, health care, IT and ICT, and food and beverage.

Senior Vice-President of Commercial Services Sector with the Dubai Chamber Atiq Nasib noted that before economic and trade partnerships could be built, both parties must engage in an open discussion -- highlighting the importance of the meetings planned during the visit. He added that the request for the meetings indicated a positive outlook for Dubai’s private business and trade realm.

The Dubai Chamber has nearly 193,000 members, and Nasib said the chamber is reaching out to each of them to promote meetings with European counterparts in order to stay competitive and aware of coming changes within their industry and global marketplace as a whole.

Dubai traders have shown growth even in dealing with economic downturns, according to Nasib, by diversifying exports to 208 international destinations during the first half of the year. This report shows a 6 percent growth over the same period last year, which documents only 199 destinations of exported goods.

The Senior Vice-President of Dubai Chamber Commercial Services Sector projected that the chamber would only continue to grow as dialogue with businessmen from the European countries developed. Those working in the emirate’s trade business are excited about joint investment opportunities to further advance the economy.