Media ININ Economy We Trust
Abu Dhabi, April 7 / The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center, within the framework of the annual investment forum within the activities of its 12th session, will host the “Entrepreneur Investment Summit 2023 … Investing in Arab and African Entrepreneurs” in cooperation between the Annual Investment Forum AIM and the Federation of Arab Chambers on May 8 and 9. Next, it will be sponsored by the League of Arab States, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa “Badia” and the UNIDO Office for Investment and Technology Promotion – Bahrain.
The summit aims to create a platform dedicated to promoting bankable investment opportunities led by entrepreneurs or SMEs and macro investments from the Arab region and the African continent, in addition to exchanging best practices and experiences from Africa and the Arab region on means of stimulating and unleashing entrepreneurship and joint investments, as well as discussing challenges. And the opportunities and risks facing the entrepreneurial community and the best way to move forward towards achieving Arab-African economic integration.
Dr. Khaled Hanafi, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, valued the extended partnership with the Annual Investment Forum (AIM), which is supported by the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, in partnership with the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, through the signing of cooperation agreements between the two sides, considering that the Union of Arab Chambers is the true representative of the sector. The Arab private sector, and the annual investment forum AIM, have many common goals, which ultimately lead to promoting Arab countries as an attractive region for investments, whether inter-Arab or foreign direct investment.
Hanafi said that the Federation of Arab Chambers and the Investment Forum complement each other, and from this standpoint they succeeded, through the existing partnership between them, in organizing many joint activities and events in the year 2022 on the sidelines of Expo 2020 Dubai, and this year the Arab and African Entrepreneurs Investment Summit will be organized. It is an ideal opportunity for startups and small and medium-sized companies to showcase the latest technological innovations resulting from the rapid development in the use of artificial intelligence technologies and the digital revolution, with the aim of developing joint investments and cooperation, facilitating trade between the African continent and the Arab region, and achieving the transition towards the digital economy.
He added: We are pleased with the existing partnership with the Annual Investment Forum (AIM), which plays a major role by organizing the forum since 2011, as the forum has turned into an interactive platform that allows all parties to participate in the investment process worldwide, as well as the possibility of communication and cooperation to discuss investment mechanisms and developments and how to provide an atmosphere Appropriate for the benefit of all parties, including investors, companies, and investment destinations.
For his part, Dawood Al-Shezawi, Chairman of the Annual Investment Forum, stressed the importance of the strategic partnership, which brings together the Annual Investment Forum, with the League of Arab States, the Union of Arab Chambers, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, and the UNIDO Office for Investment and Technology Promotion – Bahrain, which contribute significantly to Enhancing coordination and joint action to support entrepreneurship in the region.
On its first day, the summit sessions include the Arab-African ministerial session entitled “Foreign Direct Investments and Economic Integration”, a session entitled “Developing Ecosystems Conducive to Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, and a panel discussion entitled “Removing Risks and Improving Small and Medium Enterprises’ Access to Finance … Finding Innovative Solutions to Open Sources of Capital in the Middle East, North Africa and the African Continent.
SMEs represent 90% of business and more than 50% of employment worldwide, and contribute up to 40% of the GDP of national income in emerging economies, which makes thinking of new sources of capital for SMEs very important.
In its sessions, the summit will discuss the financing obstacles faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and how to attract capital to finance them. Bearing in mind that about half of the formal SMEs do not have access to official credit.
The summit sessions, on its second day, include a session entitled “Market Access… Unleashing Growth in SMEs in Logistics Services and Diversifying Supply Chains”, and sheds light on many internal and external factors that hinder SMEs’ access to markets and how to confront them, such as, Information barriers, human resource barriers, high infrastructure costs, technical standards and regulations, operations, logistics, customs and other administrative trade procedures.
The session “Challenges of Women Entrepreneurs… Financial, Investment and Educational Shortage” discusses the challenges that women face on the social, economic and political levels, and highlights the resilience and strength demonstrated by women entrepreneurs during the past three years in the face of unprecedented ordeal, whether in the workplace or in their communities. .
The panel discussion, “Digital Transformation and the Role of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Promoting Investments in Small and Medium Agricultural Enterprises,” explores the challenges and opportunities related to applying full digitization to the agricultural business.
The session “Entrepreneurship and the Orange Economy” reviews the value chain of the orange economy for small and medium enterprises, innovation, production, distribution, access channels for products and services in this sector, and the roadmap for developing an integrated infrastructure for the prosperity of the production of creators and cultural and creative industries, in addition to strategies for building innovative financial tools and financing facilities. Which directs investment to the creative economy, and supports creative entrepreneurs in tourism and other sectors.
and shed a session
