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Dubai FDI, the investment development agency of the Department of Economic Development(DED) in Dubai, has announced that it is all set for its next investment mission to Houston in the state of Texas and Denver in Colorado. The mission will take place from September 7, 2019 and will end on September 14, 2019, as a part of Dubai’s Global Mission Program.
The delegates will conduct meetings with both government and private sector organizations, in addition to three knowledge-based seminars to discuss investment opportunities in the emirate and emphasize that Dubai is a preferred global destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). The mission will focus on identifying Dubai's strategic advantages and potential US investors on the emirate's growth opportunities to enable them to generate high returns when investing and expanding into regional and global markets from Dubai.
The delegation will be composed of Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, Eng Saed Alawadi CEO, Dubai Exports, H.E. Eng. Saeed Al Mheiri, UAE Consul-General in Houston, Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC, Ibrahim Ahli, Director Investment Promotion, Dubai FDI, Faisal Jassim, Sales Manager of Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA), Fahad Sultan and Lily Lord from Emirates Airlines in Houston, Roberto Penate, Emirates Sky Cargo in Houston, Michael Jensen, Emirates SkyCargo, Akbar Hussain, Regional Sales Director Western USA of Emirates Airlines, Kalyani Ravi, Emirates Airlines in Denver, Jonathan Garon, UAE Trade Office at UAE Embassy in Washington, Shakir Farsakh, Principle Commercial Offices at USA Consulate General in Dubai. Al Hinton, Dubai FDI, Danny Sebright, President of The US-UAE Business Council and Ruztique Toscano, Regional Director of Sales and Marketing at Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts.
Commenting on this, Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, said: “The mission to the USA demonstrates Dubai strong capabilities as an ideal investment hub and gateway for American companies. The contingent from Dubai, which is renowned for its business-friendly environment, will take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen further the investment and trade relations between the UAE and the US. We will achieve this by engaging with concerned government and private sector organizations and discussing collaborative efforts as we work towards advancing our mutually beneficial initiatives and interests.”
Eng. Saed Alawadi, CEO of Dubai Exports, said: "We are honored to be part of this special mission to the US and look forward to share investment opportunities to potential partners and future stakeholders. The USA is recognized as one of the top five strategic trade partners of Dubai and we are confident that the emirate is strategically located, which makes it a key gateway for the US to reach out to other markets in the region."
“The main objective of the second mission is to raise the profile of Dubai in US markets and demonstrate the emirate’s keenness to create strategic and sustainable business partnerships,” he added.
The planned global investment promotion mission to the two states follows the steady growth of FDI capital inflows from the USA to Dubai. FDI capital inflows from the United States to the emirate has reached to AED 14 billion in 2018, making it the largest foreign investor during the same year, based on latest data from the Dubai FDI Monitor. It also reported that the total number of US investment projects in Dubai has reached to 119 in 2018, reinforcing the US position in the lead in terms of the total number of FDI and FDI capital.
The accommodation and food services sector led the top five sectors for US investors in terms of FDI projects in 2018, followed by retail and wholesale trade, administration and support services, software publishers, and management of companies and enterprises. The Dubai FDI Monitor further revealed that the top five sectors in terms of FDI capital for 2019 for US investors, the accommodation and food services sector also ranked first, followed by the arts and entertainment sector, educational services sector, storage sector and telecommunications sector.
Texas is the second largest exporting state among US states and territories, with AED 35.99 billion in goods exported to the UAE between 2015 and 2018. The total value of exported goods in 2018 was the highest over the last four years, representing a six percentage-point increase in the total US exports to the UAE compared to 2017. Moreover, Texas had AED 7.7 billion trade surplus with the UAE last year.
In 2018, mining and computer electronic products manufacturing were the largest exporting sectors. From 2017 to 2018, mining sector had a large increase in exports, while scrap, second-hand merchandise sector had the largest decrease.
Texas ports ranked first (19%) in combined total import and export activity among US and territories with ports of entry in 2018, while 27,705 jobs out of 158,658 total jobs created in the US last year were driven by export activities to the UAE. Investors from Texas embarked on greenfield investments across various sectors during the same period as well.
Colorado, on the other hand, registered AED 1.1 billion in goods exported to the UAE between 2015 and 2018. The total value of goods exported in 2018 was the lowest over the last four years, but the percentage of the total US exports remained at the same level compared to 2017 and 2016. Colorado had AED 164.1 million trade surplus with the UAE in 2018.
Computer and electronic product manufacturing and chemical manufacturing were the largest exporting sectors last year. From 2017 to 2018, the machinery manufacturing sector had the largest increase in exports, while the chemical manufacturing sector recorded the largest decrease. About 469 jobs out of the 158,658 total jobs created in the US in 2018 were driven by exports to the UAE.
The upcoming mission to the US, which is one of Dubai’s top five strategic trade partners, follows the first successful mission held earlier this year. The investment missions are under Dubai FDI’s Global Promotional Investment Program, which aims to attract investments from key global markets. The program also seeks to strengthen the emirate’s relations with international economic powers in keeping with its economic diversification policy.
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