Sharjah, January 25, 2015: His Excellency Hussain Mohammed Al-Mahmoudi, Director General of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has told the Chamber's 55,000 member companies to be confident about the prospects for 2015 after a year of progress that has laid good foundations for further growth by entrepreneurs in the Emirate.

Mr Al-Mahmoudi, who has served as Director General of the Sharjah Chamber since 2008, said that entrepreneurs were buoyed by developments in Sharjah including the opening of the real estate market to foreign investors, Sharjah's debut sukuk issuance, and the Government's targeted support for development of key sectors of the economy.

"I talk to entrepreneurs in Sharjah every day," Mr Al-Mahmoudi said. "Whilst there are always challenges in any business, and ups and downs, what I hear again and again is that there is confidence that Sharjah's economy is heading in the right direction under the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

"Entrepreneurs in Sharjah are investing, which is growing the economy for the long-term and helping us to diversify our economic base even further. This bodes well for a good 2015."

Economic statistics for 2014 are not yet available, Mr Al-Mahmoudi said, but Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry expects them to have shown strong growth during the year which is set to continue into 2015.

In its latest projection, the International Monetary Fund is forecasting growth for the UAE economy as a whole in 2015 of 3.5 per cent.

"Sharjah is already the most diverse economy in the GCC, with no single sector accounting for more than 20% of GDP," said Mr Al-Mahmoudi. "A diversified economy is a strong economy that will help our Emirate reach its full potential. That diversification comes from the entrepreneurship of the people of Sharjah as well as the good policies of the Government."

A core strength of Sharjah, Mr Al-Mahmoudi said, was its focus on the development of its human resources. Over the past 20 years Sharjah has grown to become one of the leading tertiary education centres in the region.

"Universities are a key source of ideas, and in some cases these can lead to high-quality businesses," Mr Al-Mahmoudi said. "Our challenge is to make sure that we help even more students who study in Sharjah to become successful entrepreneurs in Sharjah.

"The UAE is focused on innovation, and I believe that our universities give Sharjah a leading role to play in this area, which can help our economy further in 2015."

Mr Al-Mahmoudi also pointed to other positive developments for entrepreneurs in Sharjah.

Last week, Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched the Sharjah Exports' Development Centre, to support companies in the Emirate to increase the export of products made in Sharjah.

In November, Sharjah unveiled a new law that enables expatriates with a UAE residence visa to buy property in the Emirate for the first time. The measure is expected to lead to new cluster cities outside central Sharjah, which will both create new hubs of economic activity and help ease congestion in the core urban area.

In September Sharjah issued its debut sukuk, a 10-year $750 million issuance. The sukuk was well-received by global investors and the move is expected to help open the debt markets to other Sharjah entities to meet their financing needs.

The sukuk issuance followed Sharjah receiving investment-grade credit ratings from global ratings agencies Standard & Poor's (A Stable) and Moody's (A3 Stable).

"All these developments are important for Sharjah's economy and they signal to entrepreneurs that they should be confident about investing for the future," Mr Al-Mahmoudi said.

Last year Sharjah Chamber measured confidence amongst entrepreneurs in the inaugural Sharjah Chamber Business Confidence Index, and found that confidence was high by global levels.

"What we found was that 96% of businesses expected the situation to either improve or at least remain stable. That is the kind of confidence that leads businesses to invest for growth and hire more people," said Mr Al-Mahmoudi.

In separate research that is also a boost to Sharjah entrepreneurs, the Chamber has found that there is strong preference amongst consumers for locally-made goods and services. Four out of five UAE consumers prefer them, and 40 per cent of consumers in Sharjah itself prefer goods and services made in the Emirate itself.  Almost a third of these Sharjah consumers said that a desire to support local businesses was the reason for their preference.

"This is a real opportunity for entrepreneurs to tap into," said Mr Al-Mahmoudi. "The key is making sure that consumers know that goods and services are locally-produced. At the moment a lack of information leaves some consumers unsure, even though they would like to buy local in principle."

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About Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry was established by an Amiri decree issued in 1970 by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah in order to effectively and vitally participate in the organization of economic life and the prosperity of its trade, industry and professions sectors on all levels and in cooperation with the concerned establishments and bodies and local departments.

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry while moving to the end of its fourth decade and despite its short period of time has accomplished as an independent establishment many achievements and objects in organizing many matters of trade, industry and professions. The chamber due to the nature of its work has given many points of views and ideas on economic matters, reflected the ideas of the private sector establishments, made many proposals about setting of economic projects and legislations related to commercial and industrial affairs and contributed in the collection of information and data, making statistics and studying the fields sharing in its activation, protection and launching investment opportunities to it.

© Press Release 2015