04 February 2016
2015 was a particularly busy year with numerous interactions for the business communities of Dubai and Italy

Al Ghurair: We welcome Italian investments and look forward to work closely with Italian businesses in common areas of interest

Dubai, UAE: The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Embassy of Italy and Promos of Milan Chamber organised a special forum, Lombardy and Dubai Economic Cooperation, Investment and Business Opportunities at the Chamber premises on Thursday.

The Lombardy regional government and economic high-level delegation, headed by Fabrizio Sala, Vice-President of Lombardy Region, which is located north of Italy, was received by H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber, in the presence of H.E. Liborio Stellino, Italian Ambassador to the UAE.

Also attending were Federico Bega, Head of Strategic Department of Promos and Ms Valentina Aprea, Education Minister of Training and Employment of Lombardy Region and a large number of Dubai and Italians business representatives.

In his welcome address to the visiting delegation, H.E. Al Ghurair stressed on Dubai Chamber's commitment to provide all possible help for the investors to develop and grow in the emirate and beyond while also stressing on both the sides' common desire to promote economic and trade cooperation between their respective business communities.

The Chairman of Dubai Chamber further stressed that the non-oil trade between Dubai and Italy in 2014 reached AED 24.2 billion up from AED 21.5 billion in 2013 while it touched AED 11 billion in the first half of 2015.

"Last year was particularly a busy one for the business communities of Dubai and Italy as we took our largest-ever trade mission to Milan Expo 2015, participated in the World Retail Congress in Rome as well as the 73rd Worldwide Motorcycle Exhibition (EICMA 2015), at the invitation of Milan Chamber," said H.E. Al Ghurair.

The Chairman of Dubai Chamber called upon Italian companies from the Lombardy region to come to Dubai and look for new investment opportunities and promote bilateral trade ties between the two sides as Dubai is an ideal business destination for Italian companies to benefit from the emirate's attractive investment environment supported by its modern infrastructure and strategic location offering access to the larger GCC, Africa and Asian regions with access to approximately two billion people.

Fabrizio Sala, Vice-President of Lombardy Region, added that Dubai and Italy's relations were strongly cemented last year with the hosting of Expo Milano 2015 when Milan received more than the expected number of visitors while the Lombardy region of which Milan is part of and has high GDP growth and is the first in agriculture production in Italy and second in Europe.

He said, "The Lombardy region has the highest number of start-ups and we want these SMEs and medium companies to internationalise and explore foreign markets. Dubai is a hub, it has sea and is well connected. We want our start-ups to make their mark on foreign shores and to use the emirate to reach out to the Middle East, African and European markets via Dubai, which is the link between the East and the West.

"We will also ask our SMEs to use the services of Dubai Chamber to show their competitiveness on a global level as the Chamber is helping out foreign investors to explore promising overseas markets," said Fabrizio Sala.

On his part, H.E. Liborio Stellino, Italian Ambassador to the UAE, informed that right now there is a perfect mood between the two countries to work together, create joint ventures and take their bilateral ties to the next level as Italy has the know-how and the UAE is a major re-export hub.

"There is ample scope to work together in the areas of industry, banking, renewable energy, biotechnology, aviation and tourism as there are about a million SMEs and medium-sized companies in the Lombardy region looking to the UAE and Dubai market in particular to go global and enhance their trade ties with the rest of the world through Dubai," he said.

In his Invest in Lombardy presentation, Federico Bega, Head of Strategic Department of Promos Milan Chamber informed that Lombardy is one of the top 10 World Economic Centres offering ample joint investment opportunities for overseas investors in the areas of Life Science and Chemical Industry, Engineering, ICT and multimedia, Design and Fashion Industry and Financial Services.

He added that Lombardy is also a European investment hotspot known for its picture-postcard vistas, sophisticated cities, great climate and fantastic food which attract global investors particularly to a number of industries including agriculture and food processing, creative engineering and aerospace, ICT and media life sciences and chemicals and tourism.

Established in 1965, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry is celebrating its milestone anniversary of 50 years empowering vision in Dubai's business community. A non-profit public entity, Dubai Chamber supports Dubai's vision as a global player by empowering businesses, providing innovative value added services and access to influential networks. Its mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Dubai by creating a favourable business environment, supporting the development of business, and by promoting Dubai as an international business hub. For more information visit: www.dubaichamber.com

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For more information, please contact:
Ruba Abdel Halim
Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
PR &Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +971 4 2028450
Email: ruba.halim@dubaichamber.com

© Press Release 2016