The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) is the center for economic growth and opportunity in the Middle East region, and has emerged as a global hub for innovation. Here’s a glimpse at what is ‘next’ for the U.A.E., how the global business community can get involved, and the role the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council will play to deliver a platform for vital public-private sector interaction.
National Innovation Strategy
The United Arab Emirates recently unveiled its National Innovation Strategy; a plan to bridge technology with sustainable economic development, to achieve U.A.E. Vision 2021 and celebrate the U.A.E.’s 50th anniversary as a nation. The strategy will focus on innovation in key sectors, including: renewable energy, transportation, education, health, technology, water, and space. American and global companies have an opportunity to support the U.A.E.’s strategic mandate and provide counsel, technology, ingenuity, and training. The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council advocates on behalf of the U.S.-U.A.E. commercial and trade relationship by promoting opportunities offered by the sectors highlighted in the U.A.E.’s National Innovation Strategy.
World Expo 2020
Dubai and the U.A.E.’s plan to host World Expo 2020 is already creating opportunities for American and global firms to get involved. Expo 2020 will shine a spotlight on innovation as a means to connect people across cultures and identify solutions to some of the world’s most challenging problems. According to Her Excellency Reem al-Hashimy, U.A.E. Minister of State and the Managing Director of the U.A.E.’s Expo 2020 executive committee, Expo 2020 will create approximately 250,000 jobs for U.A.E. residents, and boost efforts to double tourism numbers from 10 million/year to 20 million/year by 2020. Expo 2020 promises to attract visitors from around the world to the U.A.E. and will require billions of dollars in infrastructure, hotels, and transportation development. The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council established the U.S.-U.A.E. World Expo 2020 Standing Committee to streamline American industry’s participation leading up to, and throughout the global event.
Entrepreneurship & Start-Up Culture
The United Arab Emirates is pioneering development in the Arabian Gulf, the broader MENA region, and the global Islamic economy. By leveraging its position as the region’s most stable and open economy as well as an international transit point for people and trade, the U.A.E. is working to propel its industry and external engagement with communities around the world to the forefront of economic, human, and global development. In doing so, the U.A.E.’s leaders are looking to encourage a start-up culture, integrate Silicon Valley best practices, build entrepreneurial infrastructure, and foster a business-friendly ecosystem in the Emirates. The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council regularly creates opportunities for business and government leaders to exchange ideas on cultivating a successful start-up culture and advocates on behalf of the growing number of SMEs in the Emirates.
Space
The U.A.E. has very real ambitions to send a cutting-edge space probe to Mars by 2021. The establishment of the U.A.E. Space Agency earlier this year follows years of Emirati investment, economic development, and education in the telecommunications, satellite technology, aerospace, and aviation sectors. The U.A.E.’s leadership views its space program as an opportunity to benchmark MENA-based innovation and plug into the international community’s space exploration. The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council provides timely information about evolving commercial opportunities in the U.A.E.’s domestic aerospace sector and delivers a platform for decision-makers to discuss U.S.-U.A.E. partnership fundamental to fueling the Emirates’ endeavor.
