Organised by Dubai Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai, GBF LATAM 2022 explores new avenues of economic cooperation between UAE and Latin American countries.
• President of Guyana: We are working with the UAE on several areas, the first of which is infrastructure development.
• HE Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi: UAE is looking to diversify its investments globally and Latin America is a very important region for us.
• HE Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair: Dubai holds the key to unlocking Latin America’s untapped economic potential
His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, today inaugurated the Global Business Forum Latin America (GBF) 2022, which was held on the sidelines of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Organised by Dubai Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai, the fourth edition of GBF LATAM explores new avenues of economic cooperation between the UAE, Latin American and Caribbean countries.
His Highness Sheikh Maktoum attended a special panel session titled Lessons in Diversification and Partnership, which featured His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana; His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, UAE. His Excellency Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chambers and His Excellency Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chambers also attended the session.
During the session, the President of Guyana spoke about the various synergies that existed between his country and the UAE, which he says offer huge potential for cooperation.
“The UAE and Guyana have a lot in common when you look at where the UAE started from, the size of the population, what drove growth and development, notably oil exploration and revenues. But what the UAE has really taught us is how to utilise those revenues to diversify the economy, ensure quality of the system, improve government services, and build state-of-the-art infrastructure – and that is what we want to achieve in Guyana. We want to use the resources we will get from our oil resources to build an economy that is resilient and well diversified,” he said.
“We are working with the UAE on several areas, the first of which is infrastructure development. Meanwhile, from a governance perspective, we are collaborating towards efficiency in government systems and technology transfer. Having a small population that is driven by technological advancement, efficiency, transparency, and accountability is key. We are creating an investment agreement to make it easy for investors in the UAE to invest in Guyana. We want to have government-to-government, but also people-to-people collaboration,” he added.
HE Al Zeyoudi highlighted the importance of the LATAM region for Dubai and the UAE.
“The UAE is looking to diversify its investments globally and, for us, Latin America is a very important region – we are talking about more than 400 million people. Looking at what has been achieved over the last five years in Latin America, the UAE has dominated most investments from the GCC into the region. At the same time, our trade volume now sits at $9 billion, which shows there is huge potential for trade,” the minister said.
“Latin America is a global source of food products, the continent is going to be one of the solutions to the global food security disturbances, which we saw during the pandemic and we are now seeing once again. Going into the region, we want to encourage the private sector; we cannot go and expand the relationship without the private sector. We want to ensure the investment protection agreements are there and to highlight the opportunities to investors,” HE Al Zeyoudi added.
HE Al Ghurair said the forum could usher in a new era of trade between Dubai and the LATAM region, as well as highlight the benefits that Dubai offers to companies from Latin America and the Caribbean that are seeking to expand their footprint.
“This year’s forum comes at a pivotal time as economies around the world look outwards for new global partnerships and opportunities that can drive sustainable growth in the post-COVID era and beyond. The 27 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region offer a wealth of untapped potential as the Pacific Alliance, regional economic integration and reforms and COVID-led digital acceleration create new growth prospects,” said HE Al Ghurair.
“Dubai holds the key to unlocking Latin America’s economic potential, as one of the world’s fastest growing city economies that can offer valuable expertise in key sectors such as logistics, infrastructure, retail, tourism and finance, in addition to the right level of investment needed to support the sustainable growth and development of Latin American economies,” the Chairman of Dubai Chambers added.
Other key topics and issues under discussion over the next two days at GBF LATAM 2022 are how stakeholders from both regions can capitalise on the opportunities emerging across the LATAM economy, which according to the latest IMF, grew by 6% in real terms in 2021 and is expected to grow by 4.3% between 2021 and 2025.
The event takes a closer look at how Dubai and LATAM can cooperate in the rapidly growing sectors of fintech, digital solutions, renewable energy, healthcare and food security, all of which have been boosted as a result of the global pandemic. The forum will discuss how these and other sectors can be key to the economic growth of both regions, as well as deliver strong returns for investors.
A key area of discussion at the forum is how the LATAM region can play a key role in meeting Dubai’s target of increasing its global trade from the current AED1.4 trillion to AED2 trillion over five years. The forum will examine how Dubai-based investors can be instrumental in helping the emirate meet this ambitious target.
Also under discussion is the roles that Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s three international offices in Panama, Brazil and Argentina are playing to promote commercial opportunities between Latin American and Caribbean countries and Dubai and the UAE.
Dubai Chamber of Commerce is the Official Business Integration Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai, with GBF LATAM being the third in a trio of Global Business Forums that have been held throughout the six months of the event. GBF Africa was hosted in October last year and the inaugural GBF ASEAN that focused on the key markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations took place in December.