The 8th edition of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) held in Dubai was a huge success with 1,852 business-to-business and 821 government-to-business meetings taking place at the event.

A total of 20,332, including more than 1,000 investment specialists and advisors from 143 countries, took part in the meetings at the AIM, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 9 to 11, 2018, said a statement from the organisers.

The high-profile event also was graced by the attendance of 87 ministers, state ministers, governors, heads of government delegations and senior government officials and private investors – making it the world’s largest gathering of important minds, it said.
 
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended the inauguration of the three-day investment conference with a keynote address by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy; Kim Hyun-Chong, Minister of Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea, Sami Al Qamzi, Director-General of the Department of Economic Development, Dubai Government, and other senior UAE Federal Government and Dubai Government officials.
 
As many as 459 exhibitors – including country pavilions, international organisations, investment promotion agencies (IPAs), public and private organisations – occupied 8,000-sq-m exhibition space across eight exhibition halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The event attracted more than 100 IPAs and free zones, 43 sponsors and supporting partners, 64 media partners and eight knowledge partners, it added.

India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Algeria, UK, Italy and Ukraine are amongst the top participating countries.

The event saw a number of IPAs winning AIM Investment Awards, while China held the China Global Investment Summit at the AIM.
 
The conference and exhibitions included country presentations, investment workshops on capacity building, training of investment officials in promoting their respective countries’ investment environment, investment match-making meetings, investors’ hub where officials of large corporations met with investors on exploring investment opportunities, in addition to main conference on investment-related issues.
 
AIM 2018 Investors’ Hub had participation from 20 local and international organisations. A total of more than 800+ meetings have been held at the Investors’ Hub. As many as 18 countries/investment destinations took part in the Country Presentation feature of AIM including UAE, China, Georgia, Italy, India, South Korea, Russia, Egypt, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Jordan, Botswana, Cameroon, and Nigeria.                          
 
The inaugural session of the meeting also saw the launch of the e-Platform for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), established by the UAE Ministry of Economy, said a statement.
 
Al Mansoori said: “Global economic growth is improving and short-term prospects look positive. The world economy is gathering speed with growth forecast for 2018-2019, according to the IMF, pegged at 3.9 per cent.”

“The recovery in economy in a number of the key sectors such as investment, manufacturing and trade had a significant impact on strengthening the fundamentals of global economic growth. This recovery was more visible in emerging markets and developing economies, with average growth estimates for these markets at around 4.5 per cent in 2018,” he added.
 
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in to the UAE recorded 7.29 per cent growth to $10.3 billion in 2017, up from $9.6 billion in 2016 and 21.17 per cent up from $8.5 billion FDI flow to UAE recorded in 2015, according to UAE Central Bank and the UAE Federal Competitiveness Council.

However, this is at the backdrop of a 16 per cent decline in global FDI flow of $1.52 trillion in 2016, according to the United Nations Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The meeting, a large congregation of high-profile officials that include 25 federal ministers, 19 mayors, heads of international organisations, one head of parliament and investors saw the signing of a number of agreements and announcements that will help countries boost the flow of FDI.
 
Al Mansoori said, the meeting became a regional and international landmark for FDI and exchange of knowledge and best practices between emerging and developed markets, where it gains tremendous and continuous support from the leaders, decision makers and officials worldwide.
 
He added: “We live in an increasingly interdependent world. The pace of technological change is staggering, and Foreign Investment indeed plays a key role in harnessing this interdependence in a way that enhances our access to technology, the ingredients of innovation and to enhance prospects for meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs).”

World merchandise exports, valued at $15.46 trillion in 2016, is expected to grow this year as the global economy likely to record 3.9 per cent growth in 2018, Yonov Frederick Agah, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said at the opening ceremony.
 
Agah added: “Economic data and forecasts from the IMF, OECD, World Bank and others have been revised steadily upwards over the last year, which would tend to indicate a sustained recovery of trade in 2018 following strong trade growth in 2017.”
 
“The IMF's latest projections were issued in the World Economic Outlook Update in January, which had a forecast of 3.9 per cent for world real GDP growth in 2018. This would be the strongest performance since 2011, reflecting increased global growth momentum and the expected impact of US tax policy changes,” he added.

The prestigious line-up of ministers participating at the event include Kim Hyun Chong, Minister of Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea; Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Oman; Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry, India; Mccullen Ntsikelelo Jack, Provincial Minister (MEC) for Finance – Economic Development and Tourism, Northern Cape Provincial Government, South Africa; Hassan Come, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Central African Republic, were among other chief guests and speakers for the event.
 
Governors and Mayors from Nigeria, Ukraine, Mayor of the Municipality of Timisoara, Romania, Governor of Kano State, Nigeria, Governor of the Perm region of Russian Federation, Mayor of Ajdovscina, Slovenia, Metropolitan chief executive of Republic of Ghana, Governor of Kilifi County Government, Kenya and many other governors and mayors from Ecuador and other countries attended the event.
 
Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO of AIM Organising Committee, said: “The increase in the number of dignitaries, participants and investor footfall reflects a resounding endorsement of the three-day event and makes it one of the largest such gatherings in the global investment map.”

“We are grateful to the tremendous support given to us by all the stakeholders, governments and private sector institutions that helped us put such a huge global event together,” he said.

“However, the biggest success of the event comes from the investment promotions and the 1,852 business-to-business and 821 government-to-business meetings in three days that will have far-reaching impact when follow-up agreements are signed up to accelerate cross-border investment,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service