Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), spoke at length as to the strength and growth prospects of the U.S.-U.A.E. trade relationship in remarks to the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council at a luncheon on June 14th.  Over 150 business executives and policy experts attended the event, which was held at the W Hotel in Washington, DC. Sheikha Lubna’s complete remarks are copied below.

The Business Council’s policy luncheons provide members with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the expanding trade and commercial relationship between the two countries, and Sheikha Lubna’s remarks focused on the sectors poised for even greater future investment and collaboration.  “We recognize the importance of the U.S. within our commercial and economic strategies, which is why we are here today to further formulate new partnerships between our two countries,” said Her Excellency.

While outlining the instances of successful collaboration between the two countries, including Westinghouse’s a prominent role in building the U.A.E.’s peaceful civilian nuclear power reactors, Her Excellency strongly encouraged U.S. commercial participation in a broader swath of the U.A.E. economy.  According to Her Excellency, prime opportunities exist for U.S. companies in the areas of strengthening the U.A.E.’s financial market structures, diversifying its economy beyond banking, and assisting in its quest for “employment tie-ups” for its young population.

Sheikha Lubna acknowledged that while the global economic turmoil has not left the U.A.E. untouched, the government’s response to the crisis has been sound.  “Although the U.A.E. has not been immune to the effects of the crisis, it has been able to cushion and deflect most of the impact,” she said, noting the country’s solid economic fundamentals, well-timed policy responses, willingness to inject fresh capital when necessary, and strong currency reserves.  “Our resilience against the downturn makes us an excellent partner for the U.S.S as it seeks to regroup, rebuild and reenergize.”

She went on to highlight the benefits reaped by the U.S. of the U.A.E.’s oil export strategy, which primarily focuses on sales to Asia.  The U.A.E. has invested the resulting oil revenue in infrastructure and provided important capital to foreign markets such as the U.S. through the U.A.E.’s sovereign wealth fund and other investment vehicles.

Sheikha Lubna heralded the Business Council’s leadership in a number of trade missions including the upcoming U.S. Commercial Rail and Infrastructure Trade Mission to the U.A.E. which begins on Saturday, June 19th, and the Aerospace and Defense Industry Trade Mission scheduled for October.  She encouraged U.S. participation in the U.A.E.’s media and entertainment sector, and suggested that the Council consider taking a delegation of specialists on a separate trade mission to learn more about business opportunities on the ground.

“We invite the U.S. to further expand its exploration into the dynamic U.A.E. market and tap into opportunities offered by the various sectors of the U.A.E. economy,” Sheikha Lubna said.

Speech by H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi
UAE Minister of Foreign Trade

US-UAE Business Council – “The Recovery of the UAE Economy”
The W Hotel, Altitude Room, Washington DC
June 14th , 2010

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A pleasant day to you all. I would like to thank the US-UAE Business Council and its president Mr. Danny Sebright for hosting me here today. I am extremely pleased with the council’s efforts in further developing the bilateral trade & commercial relation between both countries. We have found a strong and reliable partner in the business council. This has been achieved through past initiatives such as the significant role that the council played during the nuclear 123 agreement and I only see this partnership getting stronger as more initiatives are to be concluded this year.

The UAE is a country that learns from its past and has experienced its fair share with regards to economic downturns. Our plan is simple, never depend on a single resource and always place diversification on the top of any strategic plan. Thus, the UAE has been extremely successful at diversifying its economy. We made sure to use our single resource, oil, in a strategic and efficient manner.

One may clearly relate how our oil export strategy has benefited the US. The UAE does not export a single barrel of oil to the US. In fact most of our oil exports are to various parts of ASIA. Oil revenues were used in government spending to build infrastructure projects, and in many cases they were reinvested through our investment vehicles in capital markets, making the US a recipient of such and further reconfirming the UAE as a strong and reliable partner to US economic growth and job creation.

Last year the UAE awarded several contracts with regards to its nuclear industry, many of which were awarded to US companies. The US will continue to play a role in the UAE’s nuclear program through one of its prominent companies, Westinghouse. The business council also followed up with a nuclear trade delegation to the UAE in which US companies had a chance to further explore opportunities and future contracts.

This month the business council will also be taking a railway delegation to the UAE.
Our ambitious union railway program will connect various countries in the middle east together and will soon be issuing tenders for contractors. In October the council will be taking another delegation, this time in the aerospace and defence industry. As the UAE develops these industries, many opportunities will await US companies  that can provide cutting edge technologies and services. Another untapped industry in the UAE is the media and entertainment sector. I strongly recommend that the council also consider taking a delegation of specialists in that sector of the economy.

I am indeed very happy to be joining you in discussing the future of trade relations between our two countries. The UAE remains to be the largest export market for US goods in the Middle East for 2009. The UAE spent over $ 12 billion last year on purchasing US goods. Quite hard to realize for a country almost the size of main with a population a little over 6 million. Yet with 30,000 Americans living in the UAE and over 1000 US companies with presence in our country, we are further committed in developing this relationship.

It has been two years since the crisis made its unwelcome appearance and began changing the nature of global finance and commerce. While this has been one of the most painful periods in modern history, it has also been a time to learn important lessons, most of which is related to the value of facing global challenges together, as a worldwide community.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is said that the writings of the Arab Muslim geographer Al-Sharif Al-Idrisi partly inspired Christopher Columbus to seek the New World. We hope to provide a similar inspiration as we collaborate with the US in developing a more productive and inclusive global economic order.

Although the UAE has not been immune to the effects of the crisis, it has been able to cushion and deflect most of the impact through its sound economic fundamentals; timely policy responses such as relaxed monetary regulations, the securing of banking system liabilities, and the injection of fresh capital where necessary; aggressive economic diversification; and strong currency reserves. Our resilience against the downturn makes us an excellent partner for the US as it seeks to regroup, rebuild and reenergize.

On the other hand, the financial crisis has revealed vulnerabilities in our economic and trade frameworks, which we have been addressing through key market-oriented reforms and elevated regional and international trade. We recognize the importance of the US within our commercial and economic strategies, which is why we are here today to further formulate new partnerships between our two countries.

As Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, perfectly stated last year, the Arab World must be part of the global response to the crisis due to the importance of its natural resources and its rich history, culture and human potential. At the same time, Mr. Zoellick said that our region needs international partnerships with areas such as the Americas to maximize opportunities to its citizens, especially to its youth. We are all in this together, so we must find out the best ways possible to harmonize our trade and economic activities.

We invite the US to further expand its exploration into the dynamic UAE market and to tap into opportunities offered by the various sectors of the UAE economy.

The establishment of a Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013, part of a US Government plan to boost trade and investment and advance economic reforms in our region, is among the many initiatives from the US that we hope will reach its objectives. Some of the UAE’s development priorities, such as the strengthening of our financial market structures, our diversification beyond a bank-based economy, and our pursuit of employment tie-ups for our youthful population are also other areas that are ripe for further exploration.

For our part, the United Arab Emirates offers several trade and investment prospects backed by our business-friendly tax-free environments, our diversified industries, our strategic proximity to key markets in Europe and Asia, and our resilient economy.

Our country recently topped the MENA region and ranked 16th globally among 125 countries in the recent World Economic Forum Enabling Trade Index to improve two places over last year. We performed well across the four issue areas of Market Access, Border Administration, Transport and Communications Infrastructure, and Business Environment. We also ranked first in the world in the latest HSBC Trade Confidence Index and first in the Arab region in the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

Moreover, the Emirates jumped a remarkable 14 places from 47th in 2009 to 33rd among 183 international economies in the 2010 Doing Business survey conducted by the World Bank. We performed especially well in the ‘Paying Taxes,’ ‘Trading Across Borders’ and ‘Registering Property’ measures.

In terms of our own response to the global downturn, we have so far injected around USD 33 billion to our local banks, guaranteed bank deposits, introduced key legislation to stimulate investments such as the abolition of the minimum capital required to establish limited liability companies, and intensified our engagement with the international trading community.

The UAE typifies the dynamism appeal of the Middle East as a trade and investment destination and thus invites the US to benefit from what it has to offer as a partner.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The new global market emerging from the downturn will be more transparent, diversified, better regulated, and feature more efficient and secure financial systems.

Thank you and please enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
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