Member Article

Opportunities in United Arab Emirates for North West

UKTI North West have kicked off their international trade programme at MediaCityUK, with an event that outlined the opportunities for the region’s businesses in the United Arab Emirates.

A recent event in Salford focussed on giving the region’s businesses knowledge on the UAE, with key speakers from the Governments of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Ras Al Khaimah Freezone

The event also featured speakers from UKTI as well as Ian Whittaker, director of international business development at FjordGroup in Manchester.

Businesses were told how the abu Dhabi is the second largest Arab economy behind Saudi Arabia, and underpinned by oil revenue, is in a good fiscal position to finance growth.

Trade incentive packages to facilitate market entry for UK businesses including no taxes, low custom tariffs, free zones for enterprise and no limits on profit repatriation, were also communicated to companies.

Neighbouring Dubai is the world’s top innovation driven economy according to the World Economic Forum report, and is the 3rd most important economy in the world for security and 4th for infrastructure.

Businesses attending the event were also offered the chance to attend any of three planned market visits to the UAE.

In November, UKTI North West will take delegates to the Big 5 Construction Exhibition in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

It is the largest event of its kind in the Middle East which will provide a platform for architects, engineers, contractors and developers to network and source the latest building and construction opportunities.

Sandra Thornber, International Trade Adviser for UKTI North West, who provided a
cultural awareness session at the event said, “There are great opportunities in the UAE, and we are organising three trade missions to the markets over the next 12 months to help North West businesses make the most of them.

“It is vital that UK companies have an understanding of the basics of the Islamic culture and how this impacts on business practices in the Middle East, and by attending a market visit companies new to the market can benefit from comprehensive briefings from an experienced market visit manager, as well as the possibility of Market Visit Support (MVS) financial assistance grants, so we would definitely encourage companies to get in touch now to find out more.”

Speaking about the series of International Trade events, Clive Drinkwater, Director
for UKTI North West, added: “Throughout the period of the games UKTI North West is offering a programme of International Trade Events which cover the important sectors and target markets for companies in the region.

“We are encouraging as many businesses as possible to come along to our series of events at MediaCityUK. Some key sessions from the British Business Embassy will be streamed live, in addition to addresses from our own keynote speakers, with sessions tailored to regional needs and priorities with specialist briefings and local opportunities for networking.”

Clive Drinkwater of UKTI added: “The Olympics is a once in a generation opportunity for the UK to demonstrate its capabilities and become a focus of interest for global business. Business leaders from around the world will be visiting the UK and this will provide a fantastic opportunity for North West companies to build new relationships and develop existing ones.”

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This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .