Launched in 2016, GBF LATAM has continued to explore and expand the scope of economic cooperation between the GCC, Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. For 2022, GBF LATAM returns to ignite dialogue between business leaders under the themes of reform. What are some of these themes of reform?
The theme of this edition of GBF LATAM is ‘Towards a Resilient Future,’ with its sessions held under the banners of ‘Reform,’ ‘Empower’ and ‘Grow.’ These three pillars recognise that reform is the essential first stage of the growth process, only then can institutions and organisations be empowered to grow their economies.
One major effect of the pandemic is that it has accentuated the concerns that were already arising from climate change and sustainability, in effect creating a perfect storm of need for reform. All this has thrown into sharp relief the pressing need for change in LATAM countries; from fiscal reforms to food security, from economic diversification to infrastructure development.
How does GBF LATAM and Expo work as catalysts for driving economic cooperation between Dubai and Latin America?
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, GBF LATAM forms an important strand of Dubai’s new strategy aimed at ensuring that foreign trade plays a more significant role in the emirate’s economic development.
Dubai Chamber, in its role as Official Business Integration Partner, has been instrumental in facilitating trade and industry gatherings at various LATAM pavilions throughout the six months of Expo 2020. With more than 800 delegates representing over 50 countries expected to attend the forum and a comprehensive programme of presentations, panel discussions, keynote speeches, fireside chat interviews and breakout sessions, it is the regions’ leading platform for discussing trade between Dubai and the LATAM region.
What are some of these Reform issues?
Among the issues the forum will be discussing as part of the Reform agenda will be how the pandemic has highlighted the long-term structural challenges facing Latin American and Caribbean countries, such as income inequality and poor health and education provision.
It will explore how many economies of Latin America and the Caribbean that were heavily reliant on tourism and commodity exports suffered greatly during the outbreak, necessitating the need to diversify; how the development of infrastructure is essential to underpin future growth, and how leading development luminaries plan to avert another ‘lost decade’ in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ultimately, the Reform agenda of the forum will look at the factors that are the essential underpinning of strong, vibrant and resilient economies that are the cornerstone of successful, inclusive societies.
What is the role of Expo 2020 Dubai in the forum?
Expo 2020 Dubai has been called ‘one of the world’s most important business meetings’ and Dubai Chamber in its role as Official Business Integration Partner has been instrumental in facilitating trade and industry gatherings at various LATAM pavilions throughout the six months of the expo.
These include an ‘Invest in Bogota’ event at the Colombia pavilion that highlighted the city’s strengths in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as put the spotlight on the more than 25 multi-sector projects in Colombia’s mobility and infrastructure sectors, including the second line of the Bogota Metro, CANOAS and Bronx Creative District. Expo 2020 Dubai has also been an important staging post for LATAM countries accessing other key events taking part in the city.
A prime example is the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) which, in conjunction with the Brazil pavilion, brought 114 food and beverage companies to the 26th edition of Gulfood. Throughout the course of the Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai Chamber has played a key role in maximising trade potential between Dubai and the LATAM region.
The forum will explore three thematic pillars: reform, grow, and empower. What are the key ways that trade, foreign direct investment, and regional integration can be used as tools for growth?
Under the ‘Grow’ pillar, GBF LATAM will be exploring how trade, investment and integration are essential to release the latent potential of the LATAM countries. Among the issues under discussion will be the need to build more resilient supply chains that can facilitate vital trade, especially with respect to essential commodities such as food, as well as their role in enabling better integration.
One particular initiative that will be under the spotlight will be the World Logistics Passport, a Dubai-led scheme that was established to overcome trade impediments that limit the growth of trade between developing markets and build logistical bridges between manufacturing hubs in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. It will look at how this scheme can further remove barriers to the growth of trade, thereby facilitating an increase in trade, both in volumes and value.
Dubai’s experience as global trading hub will be drawn upon to show how trade and investments between Latin America and the Caribbean and Dubai can open doors for the region into other markets, such as Africa and Asia, as well as how LATAM countries can become regional hubs in their own right.
What are some key competitive advantages Dubai offers to LATAM companies?
The chamber currently has around 400 Latin American companies registered and works to enable these to reach their full import and export potential for all the markets the emirate serves. Dubai Chamber of Commerce is a staunch advocate for every business operating in Dubai, whether local, regional or international.
We assist companies in becoming established and then help them expand into new markets, with the city strategically positioned between east and west. We facilitate the setting up of companies through licensing and documentation and provide all the necessary information relating to government initiatives that include a 10-year residency visa for investors, 5-year residency visa for entrepreneurs and 100 percent foreign ownership in mainland companies.
Dubai International Chamber has recently approved a three-year strategy to elevate Dubai’s position as a global trade hub. What is this strategy?
In March 2021, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced that Dubai had the target of increasing the value of its global trade from the current $380bn to $545bn over the next five years, strengthening the role that global trade plays in the emirate’s economic development.
In conjunction with this, it was announced that Dubai Chamber would be restructured into three separate and distinct chambers of commerce: Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai International Chamber, and Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, each with its own individual mandate and strategy. In February this year, Dubai International Chamber’s board of directors approved a new strategy for the next three years (2022-2024) to support this new direction.
The new strategy takes a two-pronged approach, the first being to encourage multinationals to set up operations in Dubai, with a specific target of attracting 50 such multinationals to the emirate within three years. It also assists these companies – as well as existing multinationals operating in Dubai – to list on the Dubai Financial Market and to move into markets that Dubai serves.
The second prong sees the chamber supporting Dubai-based businesses expand to priority foreign markets, with a target of helping 100 Dubai companies move to new markets identified as being promising within two years. The chamber has already identified 30 target markets that offer huge economic potential.
Dubai International Chamber’s strategy will strengthen partnerships with global corporations, investors and entrepreneurs, and boost Dubai’s status as a major trade hub. Ultimately, the new strategy will expand Dubai’s trade partnerships with promising markets around the world and elevate the emirate’s position on the global stage.
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