“The rise in significance of Asia and the Middle East is resulting in a fundamental realignment in the investment landscape as the balance of global economic strength shifts to the emerging economies, with its consequent implications on long-term economic and financial flows. Recent reports indicate that with the rapid growth in domestic demand, reinforced by the vast productive investment opportunities within and across Asia and the Middle East, it is projected that the emerging world will account for 60 percent of total world output by 2030, 20 percent higher than its current level,” speaking ahead of the event, David McLean, Chief Executive of the Asia-Middle East Investment Summit, said.
“The Asia-Middle East Investment Summit (AMEIS 2012) will provide a high-level platform for promoting cross-border investment flows between these two dynamic growth regions and will bring together investment leaders from the Middle East and Asia to focus on mobilising increased capital and trade flows”, he added.
The Asia-Middle East Investment Summit (AMEIS 2012) will be officially inaugurated on the 7th of June with a welcome address by Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, honorary Chairman of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO). The welcome address will be followed by an opening keynote address by Toby O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Bank of Asia.
A key highlight of AMEIS 2012 will be the special keynote address by Ben Simpfendorfer, Managing Director of Silk Road Associates. Ben Simpfendorfer, one the world’s leading experts on relations between Asia and the Middle East and author of the influential “The New Silk Road: How a Rising Arab World is Turning Away from the West and Rediscovering China” will share critical insights on renewing the Silk Road and identifying the growth prospects for Asia-Middle East investment flows.
“The global crisis has had little impact on the rise of a new Silk Road, even binding the region together more tightly. Trade between Asia and the Middle East is flourishing, its total value rising above $400 billion last year. The Middle East now supplies 3 out of 10 barrels of oil consumed by China. Korean construction firms earn nearly a third of their total revenues from the Middle East. Even in cross-border investments, change is finally happening, as countries along the new Silk Road look for alternatives to established markets in Europe and the United States. But the key question that remains is where is the new growth sectors and opportunities,” speaking ahead of his session, Ben Simpfendorfer, said.
AMEIS 2012 will feature an exclusive industry leaders’ power debate session that will seek to capitalize on the shift to East-Middle East trade and investment flows as the two regions are set to enter a stronger phase of inter-connectedness. The session featuring Muzaffar Hisham, Chief Executive Officer of Maybank Islamic Berhad; Shashank Srivastava, Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategic Development Office of Qatar Financial Centre Authority; and Marc Foss, Executive Director – Middle East of Silk Invest, will discuss and debate how investments can be more powerfully mobilized between Asia and the Middle East and how industry leaders can successfully tap into the significant growth potential of cross-border trade and investment flows between the two high-growth regions.
AMEIS 2012, a one-day high profile investment summit, will take place immediately following the 3rd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2012) on the 7th of June at the Grand Hyatt, Singapore.