The UAE Ministry of Economy (MOE) has announced that it is organizing a high-level delegation from the UAE to visit Malaysia and Singapore to be led by H.E. Eng. Sultan Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy from February 5 to 8, 2018.

The visit’s agenda includes the participation in the UAE-Malaysian Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur, which will be held on February 5 and 6 in cooperation with the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the UAE Embassy in Malaysia. The delegation will also participate in the UAE-Singapore Business Forum which will be held in Singapore on February 8 in cooperation with the Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the UAE Embassy in Singapore.

The UAE’s delegation comprises representatives from around 60 federal and local government and private entities. The two meetings are expected to present new investment opportunities for UAE companies in both countries in several economic sectors such as innovation, modern technology, Islamic banking, clean and renewable energy, real estate development, infrastructure and ports management, manufacturing, Halal trade, free zones and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) following a number of meetings, workshops and a series of bilateral meetings for businessmen from all concerned parties, which will be organized on the sidelines of the business forums.

H.E. Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, said that in light of the UAE’s growing commercial, economic and investment prominence worldwide, it has attracted the attention of emerging economies, especially among Asian countries, which are also experiencing rapid economic and development growth as they advance their strategies. This in return promotes a platform for meaningful partnerships between UAE investors and the economically advanced countries.

H.E. Al Saleh added that strengthening the partnership between the UAE and Malaysia and Singapore will help open new investment opportunities for UAE investors in many neighboring Asian countries, following the successes of the Malaysian and Singaporean economies and the growth of infrastructure and advanced logistics supplies in this region.

 The value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Malaysia amounted to AED 15.4 billion in 2016, according to statistics, surpassing the UAE imports from Malaysia which is worth AED 12.9 billion and the re-export trade from the UAE to Malaysia reported AED 1.8 billion for the same year.

The UAE-Malaysian non-oil trade indices averaged AED 18.3 billion, UAE imports from Singapore reached AED 7.7 billion, and re-exports amounted at AED 7.6 billion.