Sponsored: Sharjah’s push to attract FDI

With the UAE focussed on diversifying its economy away from oil, each of the emirates in the seven-state federation have concentrated on varied industries and sectors, in a bid to attract more international investments.

While Dubai is looking towards sectors such as tourism and technology, Abu Dhabi has diversified heavily into clean energy, space and leisure travel.

Sharjah meanwhile has identified sectors such as leisure, healthcare, environment, education, light manufacturing, and transport and logistics, as it seeks to grow its economy and woo more foreign direct investment (FDI) through its Sharjah FDI office Invest in Sharjah.

“As such, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has concentrated heavily on eco-tourism, combining the huge demand for Sharjah as a family friendly leisure destination with the ever-increasing need towards environment protection and conservation,” says the director of Sharjah FDI Office, Mohamed Juma Al Musharrkh.

“As well as identifying Sharjah’s development as a regional tourist hub, the emirate has had the foresight to combine attractions which appeal across all demographics and has capitalised on drawing FDI on all aspects of its economy.”

“This diversification is one of Sharjah’s great strengths and forms the bedrock of the emirate’s continued expansion. Sharjah’s fast-growing economy continues to attract record volumes of foreign direct investments, which are projected to exceed Dhs1bn ($274m) by the end of 2017.”

These volumes have also been boosted by events such as the Sharjah FDI Forum, which takes place this year from September 19 to 20 at the Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre in Sharjah.

The two-day event is organised by Shurooq, and Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) – the foreign investment promotion arm of the authority.

“At the 2016 edition of the forum, Shurooq unveiled the new Invest in Sharjah (IIS) brand, which has helped enormously,” says Al Musharrkh.

“IIS now provides a full range of features to facilitate and promote FDI, including coordinating with a number of government departments and entities to ensure smooth operational processes, procedures and logistics. It is a prime point of contact and source of data for global investors to find out more about investment opportunities in the emirate.”

This all adds up to Sharjah making a significant contribution to the UAE’s gross domestic product with Sharjah already contributing a third of the UAE manufacturing production, and the forum making a significant contribution to investors’ entrance to the market.

“The value of FDI inflows to the UAE as a whole stood at $9bn in 2015, according to latest available data by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority,” says Al Musharrkh.

“The Sharjah FDI Forum provides the essential business backdrop to regional investment, and highlights the advantages and benefits of doing business in Sharjah, with the UAE having one of the most dynamic and lucrative investment potentials in the region.”

The theme of the event this year is the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which encompasses a range of new technologies that are impacting societies, economies, industries, and cultures. These include robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, autonomous vehicles and quantum computing.

“With every development comes a fresh challenge coupled with a new opportunity. And with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, the rate of change is greater than ever,” states Al Musharrkh.

“In terms of not just accepting but embracing and excelling in these fundamental changes in work and lifestyle, the UAE is among the most eager countries worldwide to experiment and implement the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution and explore new markets for them.”

Some of the attendees at the forum include Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority Sheikha Budour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, the UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, undersecretary for Foreign Trade and Industry Affairs Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Huawei CEO David Wang, general manager of Alibaba Cloud Middle East and Africa Dan Dan Hu, IBM Middle East’s Bashar Kilani, and Tarek Abdulla, regional head of Marketing at Google.