Dubai to strengthen investment co-operation with GCC countries

Dubai discusses frameworks for strengthening and activating means of economic and investment co-operation with the GCC countries.  UAE and Dubai in particular to enhance trade exchange and support the gains achieved by the GCC Customs Union and the Gulf Common Market.

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, met Dr. Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, to discuss frameworks for strengthening and activating means of economic and investment cooperation with the GCC countries.  The meeting, which was held today, comes within the ministry’s endeavours to support and strengthen joint GCC economic action, and devise a common direction to confront regional and international changes.

During the meeting, Obaid Al Tayer deliberated mechanisms to advance the process of GCC economic integration, and ways to enhance trade exchange and support the gains achieved by the GCC Customs Union and the Gulf Common Market.

He also stressed on the pivotal role of the UAE in promoting economic, commercial and development integration, and expanding horizons of co-operation and joint coordination among the GCC countries – especially in terms of the volume of trade exchange, and in a way that gives the GCC countries a distinguished position on the global economic decision map.

Al Tayer said: “The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plays a key role in consolidating the strong relations and strategic partnership between the member countries to enhance the Council’s march. The Ministry of Finance is keen to bolster the ties between the UAE and the GCC countries, to support the GCC joint action and meet its aspirations for development and prosperity.”

The Ministry of Finance oversees a unified economic agreement between the GCC countries, joint GCC economic action, as well as relevant projects including financial integration, the implementation of the GCC Customs Union and Gulf Common Market. The ministry also established the Department of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Affairs, a specialised department which is responsible for following-up on the implementation of Economic Integration projects.

Earlier as part of its endeavours to strengthen and activate means of economic and investment cooperation with various countries of the world, the UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), signed an agreement to promote and protect mutual investments with Hungary.

The agreement, which was signed recently at the ministry’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, aims to enhance economic cooperation, provide an optimal investment environment, and secure a comprehensive balance between rights and obligations between investors and the host country, thus stimulating business initiatives for sustainable economic development.

Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance, singed the agreement on behalf of the UAE, while Osama Naffa, Hungarian Ambassador to the UAE signed it on behalf of the Hungarian side, in the presence of senior officials from MoF. The agreement protects both nations’ investments from all non-commercial risks including nationalisation, confiscation, judicial seizures, and freezing; and it creates a conducive environment for mutual investments and licensing. It also covers transfer of profits and revenues in convertible currency and provides investors a just and immediate compensation for their investments in case of their appropriation for the public interest – in accordance with the approved law and provided that the compensation value is in accordance with the market value of the investment prior to its seizure.