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Roundtable meeting strengthens Sharjah-Netherlands ties

Sharjah government trade and investment organisations recently held roundtable discussions with members of the Netherlands Business Council Dubai on business and investment opportunities in Sharjah. The United Arab Emirates is currently the Netherlands largest export market in the Gulf, accounting for 40 percent of all the country’s exports to the GCC, while total trade between the UAE and the Netherlands totaled 3.2 billion Euros in 2012.

“Ties between Sharjah and the Netherlands are well established, as is clearly evident from the strong presence of leading Dutch companies in the Emirate, such as Martinair Cargo, Tebodin Netherlands B.V, and Dutch Tech Group,” said HE Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). It is estimated that are at least 200 companies from the Netherlands have offices in the UAE. Other Dutch companies operating in the UAE include ABN Amro, AkzoNoebel, Boskalis, ING, Unilever, Philips, Shell, Van Oord and Vopak.

The roundtable discussions focused on the four key sectors identified by Shurooq as key drivers for the Emirate’s economy: travel and tourism; environment; healthcare; transport and logistics. Presentations were given by Shurooq, the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, the integrated environment and waste management company, Bee’ah, and Sharjah Healthcare City.

The event was attended by HE Robert de Leeuw, Consul General, Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dubai, Giovanni Angiolini, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Netherlands Business Council, HE Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Shurooq; HE Hussain Al Mahmoudi, Director General of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Director General of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), HE Khaled Huraimel, CEO of Bee’ah, a number of government representatives from Sharjah and the Netherlands, members of the Netherlands Business Council Dubai and the Dutch business community in the UAE.

The roundtable is part of an extensive calendar of events organised by Shurooq locally and globally as part of its ongoing efforts to highlight Sharjah’s investment potential.

Shurooq was recently named FDI Agency of the Year in the MENA region by The European Magazine’s Global Banking and Finance Awards.

Source: Shurooq

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