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.
