By Rafiq Vayani
DUBAI: The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently concluded a three-day visit to Shanghai where its officials met with key stakeholders from the city’s public and private sectors to discuss new cooperation opportunities within the aviation, logistics and e-commerce sectors.
During the visit, H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber;Mr. Omar Khan, Director of International Offices, Dubai Chamber; and Mr. Daniel Sellers, Head of Dubai Chamber’s China International Office, held in-depth discussions with top executives from China Eastern Airlines.
The meeting concluded with the two sides agreeing upon three areas of cooperation, namely: China Eastern Airlines’ plans to launch direct flights from Shanghai to Dubai later this year and use Dubai as a hub for cargo trade, identifying Belt and Road opportunities in new markets in the Middle East and Africa for China’s aviation and aircraft manufacturing sector, and exploring sourcing consumables from reputable suppliers in Dubai Chamber’s network across the Middle East, Africa, and South America.
H.E. Al Ghurair expressed his support for the cooperation between Dubai Chamber and China Eastern in these areas, and both sides indicated they would collaborate to achieve the objectives of these agreements through Dubai Chamber’s office in Shanghai.
Chamber officials met with senior executives at Jiuye Food Supply Chain Logistics and discussed potential areas of collaboration, including the company’s keenness to assist UAE food exporters that want to sell to the Chinese market, and explore fruit and vegetable export opportunities to Dubai and the GCC region.
Jiuye executives expressed their intention to explore the possibility of investing in Dubai and identifying opportunities in the emirate’s e-commerce sector with the help of Dubai Chamber.
In addition, Dubai Chamber officials toured the offices of Ctrip, a leading Chinese provider of travel services, and held a meeting with top executives from the company which covered tourism trends, Ctrip’s global shopping platform and partnership opportunities.
Dubai Chamber hosted a gala dinner in Shanghai to celebrate Chinese New Year, which was attended by 110 high-level guests from Shanghai’s public and private sectors, including H.E. Rashed Alqemzi, UAE Consul General in Shanghai
During the reception, H.E. Al Ghurair spoke about Dubai Chamber’s progress in building and developing relationships with key stakeholders in China in recent years, and noted that the opening of its Shanghai office in 2016 was a testament to the Chamber’s commitment to improving economic relations in the country.
Dubai Chamber’s Chairman explained that the UAE and Dubai are expected to play a prominent role in the New Silk Road as a logistics hub strategically located between Asia, Europe and Africa, adding that there is plenty of scope to increase bilateral trade and investment in key sectors such as trade, tourism, retail, logistics, renewable energy, high tech, and real estate.
Dubai Chamber officials also met with other government officials during the visit, including H.E. Mr. Wang Zhixiong, President of Shanghai Federation ofIndustry and Commerce and Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce;Mr. Gordon Gu, Secretary General, Shanghai Chamber of International Commerce; and Mr. Chen Jiang, Director, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce Foreign Affairs.
