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Feb 26 2011

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Authority seeks to expand Asian investor base in Sharjah

The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has concluded its promotional Asia Tour of Thailand and Singapore. The tour aimed to expand the base of Asian investors in Sharjah and open up channels of communication with new investment markets.

The Asia Tour, which kicked off in mid-February, is in line with Shurooq's efforts to attract foreign investment to the emirate, and is part of its regional and international promotional activities, which aim to promote Sharjah's investment attractions while highlighting its unique economic, cultural and geographical elements, and the promising investment opportunities available, as well as the incentives and advantages on offer to investors.

Speaking of the importance of the tour, Shurooq CEO Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal said, "The aim of the Asia Tour was to attract companies and investments to the emirate of Sharjah, as well as to network with new investment markets so as to lay the ground for forging future partnerships. The tour has paved the way for many potential investment partnerships with Asian countries, particularly Singapore, by identifying relevant Singaporean bodies and investment authorities and informing them of Sharjah's distinctiveness and attractions as one of the region's most important economic destinations."

Al Sarkal also revealed that there are more regional and international promotional tours on Shurooq's 2011 calendar as part of its strategy to enhance Sharjah's investment and business environment.

The first stop on the tour was Thailand, where the Shurooq delegation, which included CEO Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, Director of Business Development Elie Armaly, and Director of Finance and Administration Saud Meqdad Al Suwaidi, met with the Thai Board of Investment and reviewed the vast potential of Sharjah and the UAE, as well as the investment opportunities in Sharjah for foreign companies that are looking to invest in and communicate with the the UAE and world markets due to the UAE's leading financial and economic position in the region, and the world.

The delegation highlighted Sharjah's sophisticated infrastructure, which gives investors and companies easy access to local and global markets through modern transport networksand sophisticated wired and wireless telecommunication networks. It also shed light on the emirate's multicultural environment and the stable life it secures for investors, as well as the fact that Sharjah serves as a link between Asia and Africa.

After its stop in Thailand, the delegation moved on to Singapore, where it met with a number of organisations and authorities.

First up was a meeting with International Enterprise Singapore (IES), the regulatory body in charge of encouraging and helping Singapore an investors to expand their investments beyond Singapore, attended by Lim Ban Hoe, Group Director: International Operations (Middle East and Africa), Lester Lu, Senior Manager: International Operations (Middle East and Africa), and Garry Kan, Manager: International Operations (Middle East and Africa). The meeting looked at avenues of cooperation between Shurooq and IES, and investment opportunities appropriate for Singaporeans in Sharjah. The Shurooq delegation delivered a detailed presentation on Sharjah's economic and investment environment, as well as the advantages and facilities provided to enhance the emirate's position as a leading regional and global investment destination.

Next was a meeting with H.E Mohammed Ahmed Al Qubaisi, the UAE Ambassador to Singapore, and H.E Tee Tua Ba, Singapore's Ambassador to the UAE, where ways of attracting Singaporean investors to Sharjah were discussed and the embassy stressed its interest in collaborating with Shurooq to achieve these goals.

The delegation also met with the Singapore Business Federation, represented by Cody Lee, Director: Global Business Division (Middle East and Africa), and discussed the nature of Sharjah's investment climate, the emirate's potential, the elements that could help enhance the trade movement and encourage foreign investment, and logistics services that would ease trade exchange between Sharjah and the world.

The Shurooq delegation then met with representatives of the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry, including Douglas Chow Tuck Kheong, Senior Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship at the Ministry's Research and Enterprise Division, and a number of other officials. Both parties agreed to specify a joint work mechanism to create investment opportunities in the industrial and commercial fields.

Accompanied by Singapore Member of Parliament Penny Low, the Shurooq delegation also visited a work site developed by the Housing and Development Board in the country's capita, as well as meeting with a number of operators of world-class hotels in Singapore.

Said Al Sarkal: "The tour was very successful, and we were able to achieve a number of our goals, most notably to introduce the investment opportunities available in Sharjah, to communicate with Singapore's leading investment bodies, and to exchange expertise while getting a clear overall picture of the best practices carried out by Singapore to draw investors from all over the world. We also reached an agreement with the Singaporean representatives to organise workshops and seminars for Singaporean investors in Sharjah, in coordination with the UAE Embassy in Singapore and the Singaporean Embassy in the UAE."

Singapore is one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and its trade volume with countries worldwide reaching USD 513 billion in 2009. Trade volume between the UAE and Singapore form 2002 to 2008 reached USD43.996 billion (AED161.5 billion). In 2008, the volume of Singapore's investments abroad amounted to USD174 billion as a result of the government's policy of encouraging companies and businessmen to invest outside the country in order to diversify sources of income.

Shurooq was established in 2009 with the aim of achieving social, cultural, environmental and economic development on the basis of Sharjah's distinct Arab and Islamic identity, so as to encourage investment by adopting the best international standards in providing quality services that help attract investors from the region and the world. Its key mission is to provide the required facilities and incentives, to overcome obstacles facing investment activities in the emirate, to evaluate tourism-related infrastructure projects, and to lay down the necessary plans to complete such projects.

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