Attended by His Excellency Saeed Ghumran Al Rumeithi, Deputy Treasurer of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber has organized a business meeting with a joint delegation from Estonia, Latvia and Sweden at the Chamber’s tower in Abu Dhabi.

The business meeting was attended by H.E. Mohamed Helal Al Mheiri, Director General of Abu Dhabi Chamber, as well as H.E. Jaan Reinhold, Ambassador of Estonia to the UAE; H.E. Atis Sjanīts, Ambassador of Latvia to the UAE; Ms. Jasmin from the Swedish Embassy in Abu Dhabi; and a large number of representatives of businesses operating in the ICT sector from Abu Dhabi and the participating countries.

At the beginning of the meeting, H.E. Al Rumeithi welcomed the attendees from Sweden, Latvia and Estonia, saying that their presence in Abu Dhabi is witness to the ever-growing economic and investment relations with Abu Dhabi.

“The UAE enjoys distinguished relations with each of Sweden, Estonia and Latvia,” he said adding that “the total trade with your countries has been steadily growing over the last few years, exceeding a total of 1.3 billion Dollars in 2019.”

H.E. Al Rumeithi pointed out that the UAE has hosted investments from the three countries in the fields of finance, insurance, real estate, wholesale, retail trade, and construction. 
“Moreover, the UAE outward investment in your countries has been in diverse sectors as porcelain, ceramics, air transport, shipping, storage and wholesale among others.”

Some of the UAE’s main investors include Abu Dhabi Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, RAK Ceramics, Emirates Airways, and Drydocks World.
“The UAE is very keen on being one of the pioneers in adopting the developments in the field of ICT,” he added.
Over the last few decades, the UAE has worked hard to set up an advanced infrastructure that would enable it to provide an excellent quality of life, as well as accommodate advanced technologies, this includes artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things 
“Our aim is to realize (a sustainable economic development in a knowledge-based economy.

“As you may know, Abu Dhabi ranked the first smart city in the region, and the forty second globally in IMD’s Smart City Index in the year 2020.  Moreover, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi, is currently offering programs in the AI field for both local and international students.”

In concluding his remarks, H.E. Al Rumeithi emphasized on the Chamber’s readiness to extend its full support to businesses investing in Abu Dhabi in this strategic sector, and to provide all the necessary facilities to help make their investments successful.

Remarks

Ambassadors of the participating countries expressed their appreciation for the Chamber’s efforts in serving the business community in Abu Dhabi, saying that Abu Dhabi has become the perfect destination to start businesses and enter Asian and African markets to explore further opportunities.

“There are many reasons to be in Abu Dhabi to look for partnerships on innovation and digital economy,” Ambassador Reinhold said in his speech. “One of the main drivers is the fact that the country will host the first major global business event since the start of the pandemic, the Dubai EXPO, which brings together the business community around the world. On the other hand, depending on the focus of our delegation, there is a very innovation-friendly environment and leadership along with a relatively young population that is receptive to innovation and a technological leap into the future,” he explained.

The Ambassador added that the potential of Abu Dhabi market is much greater and something that frankly all should be exploring. 
“I believe that both regions have developed a strong reputation and European ideas and innovation partnered with Arab region resources and know-how might be a very a powerful combination,” he said.

Mr. Reinhold expressed his high hopes that the workshop would give the European delegations some of the tools and contacts to think about expanding their commercial and financial engagement in the Abu Dhabi emirate and vice versa.

Business Opportunities

A number of presentations were delivered during the meeting including a video presentation on the business and investment environment in Abu Dhabi and a joint presentation on the ICT sector in Estonia, Latvia and Sweden as well as a presentation by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office on the Abu Dhabi investment climate and a presentation by Abu Dhabi Digital Authority on business opportunities in the emirate.

The meeting was concluded by having the attending businesses meet and network with members from Abu Dhabi business community.