Sharjah 24 – WAM: Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, held a number of bilateral meetings, including one with Lord Dominic Johnson, Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade, UK, on the sidelines of his participation in the 13th edition of City Week Forum 2023, which was held Monday, 24 till 26 April, in London.
The minister also met with Nicholas Lyons, Lord Mayor of the City of London, Andrew Griffith, British Economic Secretary to the Treasury; Morris Paton, CEO of City Week forum; Odile Renaud Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and Rashee Pandey, Head of Membership and Growth at Innovate Finance Panel.
During the meetings, Bin Touq emphasised that the UAE has enhanced its openness to the world and remains keen to promote global economic cooperation. He underlined the UAE’s key role in creating investment opportunities in new economy sectors and supporting supply chains, thus ensuring their flexible and sustainable operation. Thanks to the country’s strategic location at the heart of global trade routes, it serves as an active logistic gateway that facilitates the flow of goods in and out of regional, Asian, and African markets, enhancing the quality of life for people around the world. The Minister of Economy also emphasized the relevance of the UAE’s leading initiatives in supporting and promoting international economic partnerships.
Moreover, Bin Touq highlighted the necessity to solidify existing economic partnerships between the UAE, Britain and the European continent, and forge new ones in new economy sectors. These include fintech, renewable energy, space industry, software, e-commerce, logistics, and green and circular economy, agricultural technology and exchange of experiences in these sectors and other fields of shared interest.
Underlining the UAE’s leading economic experience that positioned the country at the heart of global trade, Bin Touq attributed this achievement to the UAE’s advanced technological infrastructure, attractive business and investment environment, and flexible economic legislation, which were developed in line with the principles of the 50 and the UAE Centennial 2071 goals. These include the granting of full foreign ownership of companies, enhanced intellectual property protection, and the launch of an ambitious strategy to attract and retain talent in all sectors to establish the country’s position as a permanent hub for innovation and creativity.
In addition, the Minister of Economy invited the European and British business communities to capitalize on the advantages and incentives offered by the UAE economy to achieve growth and expansion in the UAE and the wider Middle East and African markets. Drawing their attention to the global investment platform ‘Investopia’, which is creating opportunities and catalyzing future investments, in addition to the UAE’s comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPA) program. Under this program, the country has signed four agreements to date - with India, Israel, Indonesia and Turkey. Negotiations with more strategic global markets are currently underway. Once they materialize, these partnerships will enable the private sector to build regional and global networks, ensuring more profits, growth, and development.
City Week is an annual global forum that is held in the British capital, London. The event brings together more than 1,000 senior decision-makers and economic officials in the United Kingdom and the world to create more effective solutions to political issues and economic challenges that face the world. This year’s edition tackles three main issues surrounding climate change, green finance and sustainability; institutional adoption and regulation of digital assets; and digitization and innovation in capital markets.
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