The head of the Sharjah delegation, currently on the visit to the USA as part of its first and largest Roadshow, called on US firms and investors to expand their businesses in Sharjah and benefit from investment opportunities and the emirate’s unique geographical location and characteristics.
The remarks came during a Seminar organized on the sidelines of the Roadshow that is being organized by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) under the slogan: “Sharjah – Promising Opportunities, Global Horizons”, which included a series of B2B meetings, site visits and tours that covered various economic, investments, cultural and health areas.
“The Roadshow has seen a series of fruitful and constructive meetings with our American counterparts during which we highlighted Sharjah’s unique offering and opportunities in available in various sectors. We also explored possible ways of enhancing the relations with the US through commercial, cultural, educational and artistic exchange,” Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi said.
“We seek through the roadshow and meetings to explore avenues of cooperation and joint work between various government institutions and bodies and private companies. These tours also serve as a means to strengthen bilateral relations between Sharjah and countries in the world at all levels. We will continue our efforts to consolidate the economic, investment, and cultural relations between Sharjah and the USA in the future.”
Sharjah delegates delivered presentations detailing the Emirate’s various sectors of investment and development and business opportunities, the many incentives and advantages it affords foreign investors, and its investor friendly climate and legislature. The meeting also provided an invaluable opportunity for Sharjah delegates to network with their American counterparts.
“Shurooq has taken great care to create an economic environment that stimulates growth and encourages investment and there are countless highly lucrative opportunities available for American businesses wishing to enter the Sharjah market. Sharjah’s economy achieved a remarkable performance in the period from 2005 to 2012 where the Emirate’s GDP increased by 120 percent,” Shurooq CEO Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, said.
“The Emirate boasts one of the fastest growing economies in the region. Its economic resilience is fueled by more than 45,000 strong small and medium-sized businesses that benefit from the competitiveness of Sharjah’s supply chain and that contribute to the highly diversified nature of the Emirate’s economy. Sharjah is also the manufacturing powerhouse of the UAE contributing 33 percent of the Emirates total manufacturing activities,” he added.
“There are multiple demographic and socio-economic factors contributing to the increased demand for general and specialized healthcare services in Sharjah. Despite the Emirate’s number of incidents requiring care (per 1,000 population) being slightly higher in relation to the rest of the UAE, the supply side of the sector is lagging behind the demand. This means that there are numerous opportunities for investment in health care related enterprises. By 2025, the population in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates alone is expected to be 2.7million, which will demand a significant increase in overall healthcare facilities, and it is estimated that Sharjah will require approximately 630 additional hospital beds by end of 2016. The supply of specialized surgery centers, cancer centers, advanced diagnostics, rehab centers, cardiac care centers and so forth are also currently limited or lacking representing a prime opportunity for investors wishing to enter the market. Taking these factors into account Sharjah’s healthcare industry is expected to grow by 9.3% from its current Dhs 4.59 billion to Dhs 6.55 billion in 2016.
In his presentation, Khalid Jassim Al Midfa, Director General of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), focused on introducing Sharjah’s diverse cultural offering as well as the key role the Emirate has played, and continues to play, in the protection and promotion of the region’s history and heritage. The SCTDA Director General highlighted Sharjah’s unique biodiversity and its numerous ongoing eco-tourism and conservation projects saying, “Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the Emirate continues to take a highly proactive stance in the areas of culture, heritage, and conservation.
“There are currently nine distinct protected areas in Sharjah, which together add up to nearly seven percent of the Emirate’s square mileage, with a number of progressive projects underway aimed at further adding value to these areas. Sharjah’s cultural offering is also both diverse and intensive. Sharjah is home to one of the world’s biggest book fairs, the Sharjah International Book Fair, numerous art exhibitions, including the Sharjah Biennale, and the most comprehensive museum network in the UAE – the Sharjah Museums Department oversees 16 individual museums. The emirate of Sharjah has so much to offer and we are eager to welcome the people of the United States and the world to share in its many wonders”.
“The UAE federal government is proactively implementing stricter environmental legislations and setting targets for renewable energies. This is spurring both public and private sectors to explore ways to achieve compliance and generate demand for environmental services. In answer to this Bee’ah aims to tackle waste in the region and build a strong waste management infrastructure, with the ultimate goal of leading the emirate of Sharjah to become the first city in the Middle East to achieve Zero-waste-To-Landfill by 2015. Our aim is to foster the creation of sustainable and economically viable solutions for waste management and to thereby drastically reduce Sharjah and by extension, the UAE’s carbon footprint,” Khalid Al Huraimel, Director General of the Sharjah Environment Company (Bee’ah), said.
Al Huraimel went on to state that Bee’ah was currently looking to expand its operations and therefor in the process seeking partners, technology providers, and investors for a number of projects in the Middle East, including oil, wood, paper, and plastic waste recycling projects, e-waste dismantling and recycling, and environmental education & awareness affiliations in the UAE, as well as post-sewage treatment sludge disposal and composting and landfill re-mediation and new landfill engineering.
“The Hamriyah Free Zone Authority’s main focus is to support Sharjah’s economic diversity by offering foreign investors and business an ideal environment in which to base their operations. Our 22-sqr km site offers offices, warehousing and land ideally located within the emirate with access to three ports and both the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The feedback we have received from our colleagues in the States has been overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to welcoming a host of new American interests to Sharjah in the very near future,” Saud Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Director of Commercial Affairs at Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, said.
“Given the importance of trade and manufacturing to Sharjah’s economy, the transport and logistics sector is a fast-growing one. Sharjah has already proven its capabilities in the areas of sea-to-air freight, freight forwarding, and food and beverage reefer shipping and the benefits of Sharjah’s access to the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean will only grow in importance, and will contribute to the future success of this sector,” Badr Jafar, Managing Director of Crescent Enterprises, spoke about Sharjah’s highly developed logistics sector, said.
“A UAE-based conglomerate operating across eight sectors of the global economy, mainly Ports & Logistics, Power & Engineering, Aviation, Healthcare, Media & Entertainment, Real Estate & Construction, IT Commerce, and Private Equity,” he added.