News

Invest in Sharjah organized the workshop in collaboration with WAIPA with the aim to boost competitiveness regionally

For Immediate Release,
Sharjah, 10 th December 2018

A pre-conference foreign direct investment (FDI) workshop was held
yesterday in Sharjah, on ‘Integrating innovative solutions to boost
competitiveness’, as part of the fourth edition of Sharjah FDI Forum under the
theme, “Shaping the Future of Economies”, which kicks off today at Al
Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre (JRCC).

The workshop was organized by Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) in
collaboration with the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies
(WAIPA) to enable participants to learn from marketing and investment
promotion specialists as well as representatives of leading investment
promotion agencies.

The workshop presenters included David East, Head of FDI & Economic
Products from Bureau van Dijk – a Moody’s Analytics Company; Syed Husain
Quadri, Acting Director – Country Strategy and Cooperation Department from
Islamic Development Bank; Sabrina Heinekey, Director of International
Business from M&C Saatchi; Mohit Bhasin, Partner and Country Lead,
Economic Development Solution and Ramendra Verma, Partner and Head of
Government Advisory from KPMG India.

Mohamed Al Musharrkh, CEO of Invest in Sharjah and Bostjan Skalar,
Executive Director of WAIPA opened the session with immense gratitude
toward the respective institutions and their dedication to continually transform
and guide foreign investors through expert advice in the midst of turbulent and
fruitful times.

Data is Knowledge
David East conducted the first workshop session titled, “Global FDI Trends
and Using FDI Data,” which ventured into the uncertain investment climate as
global FDI is down by 23% since 2017. The value of Greenfield projects in the
MENA region has decreased by 22% but the number is growing by 21%, on
the flip side, the value of M&A transactions into the MENA region is up by
16%, but the number of transactions has decreased by the same percentage.
The overall climate shows fragile growth, however East expounded that by
using the right FDI data, companies can harness product, market, competitor,
and investor intelligence in their decision-making process.

“The growth industries in the MENA region are transport and food
manufacturing, computer software, utilities, and industrial, electric, and
electronic machinery. Several business functions such as electricity, data
centers, education and training centers, R&D, logistics, distribution, and
transportation are gaining prominence as well. Knowledge comes from data
which allows understanding of region’s prospects and strategies,” shared East
in his data-driven presentation.

Investment is crucial for economic growth and development
“As we are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution where the whole
world trade system is under assault, each of us have to play our part in a
harmonized approach and rely on international good practices, but find
localized solutions that works for us,” explained Syed Husain Quadri.

His session was titled, “How to improve the investment climate and
competitiveness in the promotion and attraction of FDI” where he illustrated
that there is no one-size fits all approach. The opportunity lies in integrating emerging market countries into global markets’ value chains. For instance, specializations in automotive chemicals unlocks a $57.6 billion global market.

Simplicity of Thought is a Painful Necessity
Sabrina Heinekey illustrated the power of brand in her session titled,
“Destination Branding, Insights to Create Added Value.” She presented the
core elements of destination branding which includes vision, proposition,
positioning, values, attributes, and key messages.

“A successful destination brand must be embraced by citizens, residents,
government stakeholders, domestic, and international business. The brand
promise must reflect the experience, every interaction with the country should
exemplify the brand promise,” remarked Sabrina.

Importance of Ecosystem Development at a Local Level
In the last session, Mohit Bhasin and Ramendra Verma from KPMG engaged
the audience in a workshop titled, “Account Management and Managing
Investment Lifecycle.” They explained that for business to survive nowadays,
a different strategy needs to be implemented. Traditionally, when there is
capital, the enterprise establishes the ecosystem for their investment to
flourish. However, that’s not possible in such conflicting times.

“We don’t look at investment promotion in isolation, but we look at it as an
ecosystem where skills, start-ups, manufacturing, and raw material supply
chain are important. If the investment is entrenched in the local population,
the stickiness of the investment will remain regardless of political situations,”
explained Bhasin. The session ended with a robust Q&A session on the best
practices example by the Government of Maharashtra, India.

Over 1000 elite business leaders and economists from the public and private
sectors will gather for the first day of the fourth edition of Sharjah FDI Forum, taking part across 12 panel sessions and 13 side sessions during the two-day forum, which concludes tomorrow (Tuesday) December 11th.

-Ends-

About Invest in Sharjah:
Established in 2016, the Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) is the investment promotion agency of the Emirate of Sharjah, launched by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). It also functions as a key facilitator to investors, servicing them with a 360-degree informative and physical support, allowing them to fully understand processes, investment advantages and insights on key sectors that fit their business profiles in Sharjah.

As one of the emirate’s key economic growth drivers, Invest in Sharjah is dedicated to the continued transformation and economic diversification of the emirate, and is committed to guiding foreign investors to the unique opportunities and potentials that Sharjah offers to global markets. Its mission is to work collectively with the emirate’s public and private sectors, to guide investors towards strategic and personalised opportunities, promoting collaborations for bilateral growth and update investors on Sharjah’s unique business culture, modern facilities, latest regulations and policies as well as business platforms and free zones that incentivise new prospects.

Invest in Sharjah also works in close partnerships with numerous state entities in the emirate, and has hosted numerous business roundtables and seminars in Sharjah and across the world, attracting unique investments and future ventures with business leaders from The Americas, Europe, Middle East, Gulf Region, Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific Region.

Invest in Sharjah has organised and participated in numerous leading business and investment conferences and seminar in Sharjah and the rest of the world. It is responsible for organising / hosting the Euromoney Conference Sharjah, the Sharjah FDI Forum, the Sharjah Ramadan Majlis and a number of high-level businesses conferences.

For more information, please visit www.investinsharjah.ae or you can contact +971 6 556 0444. For the latest news on Invest in Sharjah on social media, follow @investinsharjah on Twitter and Instagram.