Sharjah gearing up for second foreign direct investment forum

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) is organizing the second Sharjah FDI Forum, titled "Sharjah FDI: The Gateway to the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia," for Sept. 28-29.

The forum is largest global foreign direct investment (FDI) event in the Middle East and North Africa.

Sharjah FDI Forum 2016 is taking place with the support of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, supreme council member and ruler of Sharjah, in association with the Financial Times newspaper and fDi Magazine.

The forum is designed to analyze the economic conditions dominant in Sharjah and the UAE and assess the possible opportunities that stem from them. Organizers of the event hope noteworthy speakers and lively discussions allow this year’s forum to build on the success of the inaugural event in 2015, which was originated after the UAE placed first in 2014 for the most attractive country for FDI in the Middle East and Africa.

More than 300 decision makers will attend Sharjah FDI Forum 2016, in addition to business leaders and economic experts, to network and learn from one another’s’ knowledge and expertise on trends and developments in FDI in the UAE, Middle East and throughout the world.

 “According to a recent report published by the Global Innovation Index, it ranked the UAE first among Arab countries in terms of overall performance on the index with an estimate rise of 11 billion USD in FDI,” Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, chairperson of Shurooq, said. “What positions Sharjah in a competitive advantage in this context is its unique economic competencies, geographic location and investment-friendly infrastructure which complete the remaining six emirates’ distinctive economic features.”

The government ministry estimated in 2015 that the country’s FDI share was approximately 46 percent, which is valued at approximately $22 billion of the total investment made into the GCC.