Dubai International Chamber has announced the opening of three new international representative offices in Egypt’s Cairo, Israel’s Tel Aviv and Turkey’s Istanbul.
The Cairo office was inaugurated on Monday, December 12, while the formal inauguration of the representative office in Tel Aviv will take place on Tuesday, December 13. The opening of the Istanbul office will follow a day later.
The new openings support Dubai Chambers’ strategic goals to attract international business and investment to Dubai and to drive global expansion of its members, a statement read.
The inaugurations are in line with the ‘Dubai Global’ initiative launched by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, to establish 50 rep offices for Dubai in five continents by 2030. The initiative aims to attract foreign MNCs, SMEs, investors, and international talent to the emirate by showcasing its competitive advantages, sharing investment intelligence, and engaging with overseas stakeholders. Furthermore, it accelerates efforts to boost Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade from Dhs1.4tn to Dhs2tn by 2026.
“We are delighted to announce the addition of three new bases in Egypt, Israel and Turkey to our global network of international representation offices,” said Hassan Al Hashemi, vice president International Relations at Dubai Chambers.
“The economic potential in Egypt, Israel and Turkey is impressive and we’ll continue to drive bilateral trade between the UAE and the three countries to boost collaboration in new and existing commercial sectors as well as unlock the endless opportunities of Dubai’s highly diverse business environment for Egyptian, Israeli, and Turkish businesses,” added Al Hashemi.
The new openings bring the number of Dubai International Chamber’s representative offices around the world to 15. The chamber already has representative offices across Africa, Latin America, Eurasia, India, and China.
Read: Dubai International Chamber to open new representative office in Mexico City
Egypt
Trade between the UAE and Egypt reaching $7.5bn in 2021, and Dubai International Chamber’s new office in Cairo will strengthen the commercial relationship between the two countries, boosting investment ties in key sectors including trade manufacturing, agribusiness, IT and maritime, the statement added.
The Cairo office will offer Dubai businesses market intelligence, route-to-market strategies, and operational set-up expertise. Similarly, Egyptian MNCs and SMEs will stand to gain market and operational expertise as well as access to partners in Dubai.
Egypt was Dubai’s second trading partner on the African continent in 2021. The number of Egyptian companies registered as members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and operating in the emirate amounts to more than 14,700 companies, which represents a growth of 103 per cent compared to 2016 numbers.
Israel
Since the UAE and Israel signed the historic Abraham Accords in 2020, the bilateral trade between the two countries increased reaching $1.19bn in 2021.
Read: UAE, Bahrain sign historic peace accord with Israel in the US
The Tel Aviv office further strengthens the trade relationship between the two countries, unlocking opportunities in the areas of electronics, water security, clean energy, space, retail, culture, machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and food.
The Tel Aviv office will empower Dubai businesses to explore expansion opportunities across Israel, and will support Israeli investors looking for business opportunities in Dubai.
Turkey
Non-oil trade between Dubai and Turkey reached $12.8bn in 2021, making Turkey the 7th largest trading partner to the emirate. The UAE is Turkey’s largest trade partner in the Gulf, and with the anticipated CEPA free trade agreement between the two countries, bilateral trade is expected to double to $27.4bn.
The Istanbul office will create new channels for communication and economic cooperation between Emirati and Turkish businesses. It will also focus its efforts on building strong relationships with key public and private sector stakeholders, supporting Dubai companies to expand into Turkey as well as assist Turkish companies enter the Dubai market.
