Invest in Sharjah Concludes Successful Business Summits in South Korea and Shanghai

Sharjah has successfully eyed increased opportunities for business with Far East Asia following the participation of ‘Invest in Sharjah’ at two key summits. An initiative from Sharjah FDI Office, Invest in Sharjah took part at events in South Korea and Shanghai to introduce businesspersons in two of Asia’s strongest economies to the emirate’s fertile investment landscape.

Invest in Sharjah’s trip, which took place from December 4-8, heavily promoted the emirate as being the perfect hub between east and west. High on the agenda at the events was how citizens from both South Korea and China can now receive a visa on arrival to the UAE – a decision that was announced in September this year and one taken to promote both tourism and business in the UAE.

Throughout the trip the Invest in Sharjah representatives showcased the many benefits that investors could avail from Sharjah, with a strategic special focus on the four key sectors of Tourism and Leisure, Healthcare, Transport and Logistics and Real Estate and the Environment.

The first port of call in Invest in Sharjah’s itinerary saw it travel to Seoul to highlight the array of advantages that Sharjah can offer Korean entrepreneurs considering setting up operations in the emirate. The organisation reiterated that South Korea was already a very important trading partner with the UAE, with bi-lateral trade between the two countries from 2010 to 2015 reaching AED 122.7 billion, of which AED 115.8 billion comprised the volume of UAE imports from Korea and AED 5.6 billion UAE exports in the other direction. 

“We anticipate that Korean business interests will expand significantly in Sharjah based on our efforts that are revealing its array of benefits and the new visa on arrival scheme, which we predict will hugely increase the current figure of 70,000 Koreans flying to the UAE each year. We expect that the Korean community in the UAE – which has already tripled in the past five years to reach 15,000 citizens, will grow significantly, with new businesses and investments fuelling this growth,” said Mohammed Al Musharrkh, Director of the Sharjah FDI office (Invest in Sharjah).

Following its visit to Seoul, Invest in Sharjah travelled to Shanghai to attend the Free Trade and Special Economic Zone Summit Shanghai 2016, through a delegation which included Mohammed Al Musharrkh, Director of the Sharjah FDI office (Invest in Sharjah), Mariam Rashid bin Al Shaikh, Investment Promotion Manager at Shurooq and Diana Yonghui, Investment Promotion Manager at Shurooq, which took place in the world’s most populous city proper from December 7-8. Titled ‘Global Investment Strategies for a Going Global China,’ the event saw the representatives pitching to businesspersons in the world's largest economy by purchasing power parity (according to the IMF). As a silver sponsor, Invest in Sharjah had an exhibition booth at the forum, delivered a 20 minute presentation promoting Sharjah and hosted a session of business-to-business meetings.

“China has a burgeoning consumer economy and is the world’s largest exporter of goods and its second largest importer of goods. The vast country is home to thousands of companies looking to expand their operations beyond the country’s borders and Invest in Sharjah was delighted to have participated at the Free Trade and Special Economic Zone Summit to inform potential investors about the host of advantages we have to offer, whether for small SME start-ups or for corporate powerhouses looking for the ideal strategic base between east and west markets. With the new visa rulings applying to Chinese visitors, we anticipate the tourism industry in particular will experience a rise in demand to cater for the number of Chinese tourists to the UAE, which saw approximately half a million of the country’s citizens visiting in 2015,” added Al Musharrakh.

Invest in Sharjah was conceived to ensure that Sharjah offers the best international standards and provides the highest quality services to attract investors from across the region and the world. The organisation’s trips to Seoul and Shanghai are the latest in its extensive itinerary of overseas business visits is has conducted in 2016, with its representatives also having travelled to the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the United States and Cuba. Invest in Sharjah has also hosted business delegations from Canada, Turkey, Russia and Portugal to highlight the emirate’s premium business environment.