Building a better business environment
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s programmes focus on the business community. Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry has pioneered economic development in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since its inception in 1965. Over the years, the Chamber reinforced its position as the backbone of commercial and economic activities in the UAE. By the end of 2008, Dubai Chamber had succeeded in attracting more than 100,000 members thanks to the outstanding services and facilities it provides to the business community in Dubai.
Dubai Chamber plays a significant role in enhancing competitiveness, creating a favourable business environment, promoting Dubai as an international business hub and influencing policies of interest to its members and to local, regional and international authorities. Managed by a 24-member board of directors and a director general, Dubai Chamber has three main branches and three representative offices located in different parts of Dubai to further facilitate the delivery of its outstanding services.
As part of Dubai Chamber’s mission to build relationships among its members, it established 23 business groups representing various economic sectors, 35 business councils that represent the Dubai-based foreign companies according to nationality and 78 trade centres for a number of countries. The Chamber works on fulfilling its strategic plan of promoting all business sectors in Dubai, while simultaneously promoting Dubai as an international business hub and implementing strategic alliances with other chambers of commerce to carry out joint activities and establish good relations with international economic entities.
The services offered by Dubai Chamber include issuing certificates of origin, business research and advocacy, mediation and arbitration, receiving trade missions, organising trade exhibitions, entrepreneurial training and, serving business groups and councils and more. The Chamber’s initiatives include credit rating in association with Coface, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Business Award, the Centre for Responsible Business, the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, the University of Dubai and the Dubai Business Women Council.
Enhancing local knowledge...
Dubai Chamber established the University of Dubai to address the skills and qualifications gap in the workforce and to support the government’s Emiratisation and human resources development programmes in the public and private sectors. As of February 2009, a majority of Chamber staff, 57%, were UAE nationals and it had appointed an Emirati female deputy director of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, the first such appointment in the region.
The Chamber also works with various universities in finding jobs for nationals as part of its work placement programme and conducts regular summer training programmes for school students.
How Dubai Chamber opens doors...
Dubai is an open economy and all nationalities are welcome to set up business in the Emirate. They can take advantage of the strategic location of Dubai as an East-meets-West destination with exposure to multimillion-dollar consumer bases in the world’s emerging economies. The Emirate offers minimal legal formalities for setting up business at its various free zones and there are no restrictions on repatriation of profits and revenues earned from a business. Here, the Chamber comes to the rescue of the first-time investors by providing guidelines about setting up business, including visa and labour procedures, obtaining licences and getting approvals from the various ministries.
The Chamber’s role in the financial services industry...
Dubai Chamber facilitates business for a number of economic sectors and the financial services industry is one of them. Included in this service are banks and financial institutions, particularly the Foreign Exchange and Remittances Group that operates under the Dubai Chamber umbrella. As part of its strategy to extend help to the financial sector, the Chamber included the topic of banking and finance at the Dubai Hamburg Business Forum. At the forum, the Dubai delegation entered into cooperation with German cooperative banks to acquire experience providing credit lines to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while Hamburg financial companies got a chance to explore the benefits of Dubai’s Islamic financial system.
On the economic crisis and the UAE...
The implications of the crisis for the UAE economy are reduced demand for exports and tourism, consumption, investment and some job losses. There are indications of slower growth in the crisis prone sectors of finance and stock markets, real estate and construction, trade (exports and re-exports), and tourism.
As far as the UAE debt obligations and refinancing risks are concerned, debt stands at $211 billion of which Dubai’s share is 57%. Public and private institutions have relied on external sources to finance their investment programs and development projects, including infrastructure, services and real estate. Thankfully, policy responses from the UAE government and central bank were quick and fast as they deployed an Dh120 billion ($33 billion) facility to address the banks’ liquidity needs, including Dh70 billion ($19 billion) in long-term bank deposits, Dh50 billion ($14 billion) for an emergency funding facility and a dirham-dollar swap facility to secure the country’s dollar liquidity needs. The Dubai government issued project bonds worth $20 billion while the Abu Dhabi government deposited Dh16 billion ($4.4 billion) in its banks. Dubai will continue to diversify its economy by creating new sectors of strength with competitive advantages while simultaneously deepening and expanding existing sectors, pushing them towards new frontiers.
Participation in Dubai’s growth plan...
When the Dubai Chamber reviewed its strategy to be in line with the Dubai’s growth plan, it decided to adopt the best practices of the International Chamber of Commerce so as to best serve all its stakeholders, including customers, strategic partners, the business community and employees. It is now vying to become one of the leading chambers in the world.
The Dubai Chamber going forward...
Extending its global presence, Dubai Chamber participated in June 2009 as a diamond sponsor of the 6th World Chambers Congress. Held in Kuala Lumpur, the conference was organised by the International Chambers Congress (ICC) World Chambers Federation under the theme “leading sustainable growth and change”. Showcasing the various services of the Chamber and presenting the advantages of establishing business in Dubai, Dubai Chamber’s director general participated in presenting “Chambers and the Environment,” highlighting Dubai’s efforts in tackling environmental challenges and the incurred business benefits. At the event, the Chamber introduced its green initiatives and exchanged ideas to address global challenges affecting businesses.
The Chamber also submitted a bid to host the ICC in Dubai in 2013. This proposal for hosting the congress is due to Dubai’s unique accessibility and excellent infrastructure. The UAE will remain a safe haven for investors, as the country’s economy is known for its ability to cope with various challenges. Dubai and its government have a very positive outlook about the future. Under the guidance of the visionary leadership the government is working hard to develop all the Emirates. H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said that crises give birth to opportunities and generate the resolve in men to rise anew and come out stronger.
The Emirate is very hopeful about overcoming the economic downturn, being an emerging economy and a re-export destination itself, Dubai will soon bounce back to its bustling self.
Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
P.O. Box 1457 Dubai UAE
Tel: (971) 4 228 0000 (Outside the UAE)
Tel: 800 CHAMBER (800 2426237)
Fax: (971) 4 202 8553
Email: customercare@dubaichamber.ae www.dubaichamber.ae
or visit www.exportguides.co.uk/dubai
