At the third Global Business Forum, GBF, on Latin America, which began on Tuesday in Panama City, Government officials and business leaders from the UAE and the Latin America and the Caribbean, LAC, region, vowed to improve bilateral ties and expand economic cooperation
PANAMA CITY, Panama, (Pakistan Point News - 10th Apr, 2019) At the third Global Business Forum, GBF, on Latin America, which began on Tuesday in Panama City, Government officials and business leaders from the UAE and the Latin America and the Caribbean, LAC, region, vowed to improve bilateral ties and expand economic cooperation.
Organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, and programmed in association with Economist Evens, GBF Latin America – Panama 2019 was attended by Juan Carlos Varela, President of Panama; Jovenel Moise, President of Haiti; Panamanian Vice President and Foreign Minister, Isabel De Saint Malo; Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Shehhi, Under-Secretary of Economic Affairs for the UAE Ministry of Economy; Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Dubai Chamber; Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of Dubai Chamber; Luis Alberto Moreno, President of IDB; policymakers, ministers, top government officials and business leaders from the LAC and GCC regions.
During a high-level meeting with government and business leaders from the UAE, President Varela revealed that Panama and Dubai would plan to establish special working groups to foster cooperation in key sectors of mutual interest, including tourism, real state, free zones, among others, to achieve short-term results and boost bilateral relations.
Majid Al Ghurair revealed Dubai Chamber’s plans to open a fourth Latin American representative office in Mexico City later this year which he described as a strategic move will enhance its efforts to expand trade between Dubai and Latin America. The announcement comes a week after the Chamber opened an office in Buenos Aires.
Al Ghurair noted that the forum comes at a time when bilateral ties are expanding rapidly with this trend reflected in Dubai’s non-oil trade with Latin America which has surged 46 percent from $4.6 billion in 2011 to $6.7 billion in 2018, while the emirate continues to boost its exports to the region.
Hamad Buamim highlighted key developments and trends that are reshaping the business landscape in the UAE and Latin America, as public and private sector players adopt advanced technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence as they navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Moreno shared key findings from a report released today by IDB during GBF Latin America – Panama 2019, which shed light on trade flows between LAC and GCC markets, and examined the potential for boosting bilateral trade in the future. Trade could grow by $13 billion per year if new measures and recommendations were adopted, he added.
Held under the theme "New Hubs, New Regions", GBF Latin America – Panama 2019 will explore new ways for companies in the GCC and LAC region to expand their cooperation in key sectors of mutual interest, namely food security and agribusiness, sustainability, trade and logistics, fintech and finance, tourism and renewable energy, among others.
