Sharjah and Tunisia discuss ways to promote trade, investment ties

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) recently received a delegation from the Tunisian Consulate in Dubai to discuss enhancing bilateral commercial and economic ties and to explore the investment opportunities available for business communities in the two friendly countries.

The meeting was held in the presence of Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman, SCCI, Shahir Dajbi, Consul General of the Republic of Tunisia in Dubai, and Mohammed Ahmed Amin Al Awadi, Director General of the SCCI.

Senior officials from both sides were also present during the meeting, including Sami Hassan, Director of the Commercial Representation, Iman Al-Huli, Economic Affairs Adviser at the Tunisian Consulate, Abdul Aziz Shattaf, SCCI Assistant General Director, Members Services Sector, and Director of Sharjah Exports Development centre (SEDC), Fatima Al Mokarrab, Director of the SCCI International Relations Department, and Sarah Al Yahya, International Cooperation Executive, SCCI.

Welcoming the visiting delegation, Al Owais highlighted Sharjah’s competitive advantages as a leading global business destination, thanks to its sophisticated infrastructure and its attractive business environment, where Industry, trade, tourism, and business tourism are key pillars of the emirate’s economy.

Al Owais made it clear that the Chamber is always keen to expand its partnerships network with all countries, especially with the friendly Arab countries at industrial and commercial levels, to get the most out of the available opportunities and resources and to ramp up the volume of the intra-regional trade, expressing the Chamber’s full readiness to provide Tunisian businessmen and investors with all support and facilities to kick off their investments in Sharjah.

Lauding the SCCI’s substantial role in strengthening trade relations between Sharjah and Tunisia, Shahir Dajbi stressed that such bilateral meetings would help promote the commercial ties and facilitate practicing businesses, calling on the Emirati companies to start their investment journey in Tunisia, which is bursting with numerous investment opportunities in the industry, food, construction, construction, and agriculture sectors.

For his part, Mohammed Ahmed Amin Al Awadi reiterated the importance of these meetings in exchanging experiences and in holding various partnerships, inviting Tunisian companies to take part in the exhibitions hosted and organised by Expo Centre this year.

Al Awadi said that the Chamber attaches special importance to the cooperation with the countries of the African continent, especially the sisterly Arab countries in North Africa.

Despite the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, the balanced and outstanding performance of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has clearly reflected the robustness and strength of the Sharjah economy and its ability to overcome global challenges and crises. This is evident in the SCCI’s accomplished transactions in 2020, where the total number of new and renewed memberships reached 57,103 of which 4,320 new memberships and 2,128 free zone memberships, while the number of certificates of origin issued during the past year reached 71,961 certificates.

The value of exports and imports in 2020 has amounted to about Dhs21.5 billion. These numbers are yet another testament to the SCCI’s pivotal role in supporting the GDP through its initiatives and its keenness to develop economic sectors, raise their productivity, and increase their investments.

In 2020, the Chamber has achieved 100 per cent in the smart transformation of its services to meet the requirements of its members. This includes completing 141,596 digital transactions, developing a bunch of smart services to help members run their businesses without the need to visit the Chamber or its various branches, providing electronic attestation services for all transactions, and printing the certificates of origin from the companies’ offices, in addition to providing membership certificates print out from 4 service centers in the Eastern Region “Tasheel” (Dhaid, Khor Fakkan and Kalba).

Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said recently that the value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Africa totalled $40.7 billion in the first nine months of 2020, compared to $36.9 billion in the same period of 2019, underscoring the growing trade between the UAE and African countries despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), on the occasion of the launch of “Dubai Week in Africa-Kenya” forum Al Zeyoudi stated that the value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Africa amounted to $50 billion in 2019, compared to $33 billion in 2015.

He said that the commercial exchange between the UAE and Kenya has witnessed significant growth from 2015 to 2019, amounting to nearly $2.7 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in 2015.