A record participation of more than 10,000 senior officials from 165 countries is expected at the fourth Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) to be held in Dubai from April 8.

The three-day meeting, which will review a host of investment options, and share practices and experiences, with a focus on simplifying and maximising investments in emerging countries, will be held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

It will focus on the theme ‘Investment Partnerships for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Frontier and Emerging Markets.’

Abdulla Al Saleh, Undersecretary, UAE Ministry of Economy, Foreign Trade Sector said that the past three editions of AIM succeeded in putting the spotlight on challenges and opportunities facing investments in the region and globally.

He added that the fourth edition comes at a time the UAE has moved to the forefront as a key investment destination globally.

The UAE had become a tier-one investment destination owing to its conducive business environment backed by its features and advantages like its strategic location, logistics infrastructure, high flexibility and increase inflow of foreign investment.

He said that the global growth is still in low gear and the drivers of growth are shifting, according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.

The IMF had forecast global growth to average 2.9 per cent in 2013. However, much of the pickup in growth is expected to be driven by advanced economies.

“In the UAE, the economy is back on the growth path, thanks to a balanced national strategy based on our comparative advantages and supportive policies toward entrepreneurship and private sector development. Increased government spending and a significant resurgence in tourism, transport and trade has contributed to this upswing,” said Al Saleh.

He stressed that the UAE has succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment through globalisation and its strong role as a prominent player in the modernised globalised economy.

Al Saleh added that the UAE has the advantages of the ideal economic and investment environment supported by a modern integrated structure of airports and ports, communications, transportation and logistics services.

The inaugural session on April 8 will witness the release of the foreign direct investment report for 2013, and discussions on legislative and regulatory frameworks for investments, said a statement.

A new addition to the meeting will be the Ministerial Roundtable, a high-level forum involving ministers from various countries, business leaders, representatives of multilateral agencies as well as world renowned experts from research centres and academia.  

The subsequent sessions will focus on investment in the agricultural sector, tourism and entertainment industries, infrastructure and logistics sector as well as discussions on investments pertaining to Expo 2020, risk management, dynamic institutional investments and investments in the sectors of energy, manufacturing and financial operations and a panel discussion on investments in China as well as case studies on best practices of investment in emerging markets.

Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO, AIM’s organising committee, said that AIM 2014 will look into investment opportunities in emerging markets in Asia, Africa and the rest of the world. - TradeArabia News Service