abccphotogallery
The Arab-German Economic Forum XII
The Arab-German Economic Forum XII, held in Berlin, was attended by a record number of representatives from various sectors of economic and political grounding within Arab States as well as the Federal Republic of Germany.
Dr. Thomas Bach, chairman of the chamber, described the German-Arab economic relations as encouraging in light of the global economic crisis. Most notably, German exports during the first quarter of this year grew by 3 per cent whilst on the whole German exports declined by 20.7 per cent during the same period. Dr. Bach noted that many Arab countries are expected to have high GDP growth rates in the year ahead especially given the ambitious development plans, which give German companies the chance to take advantage of opportunities emerging from the increased demand for engineering services, industrial enterprises, construction machinery and other equipment. Thus, German-Arab economic relations, cemented in establishing strategic partnerships between German and Arab companies, will be instrumental in overcoming the effects of the global economic crisis in the German economy.
The H E Dr. Abdullah Dardari, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, chaired the commission of the Syrian economic and political group of 150 participants to the Arab-German Economic Forum. He noted the importance of Syria as a link between Europe and Asia, and the importance of access to Iraq through Syria, adding that his country is investing heavily in infrastructure and technology in the German and Arab capitals. He gave an overview of the role of the Syrian economic reform over recent years to advance toward a market economy. Dr Dardari, underlined the importance of establishing strategic partnerships, calling German investors to come to Syria make their investments there, noting further that Syria will invest 100 billion Euros up until 2015 in infrastructure projects.
H E Mr. Adnan Kassar, Chairman of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries has become an important component in the German-Arab economic relations. He noted that Arab exports to the EU is 18 per cent of total Arab exports whilst the Arab imports from the EU is 36 per cent of the total Arab imports pointing to the importance of follow-up results of the forum to further bolster German-Arab economic relations.
Meetings and workshops allow familiarization with the various aspects of the Arab-German economic cooperation in the field of infrastructure and petrochemical industries and gas, banking and financial services, investment, technology transfer and information technology, telecommunications, urban construction. Optimal use of energy resources has also been one of the comprehensive sessions of the Forum to discuss economic cooperation between Syria and Germany and to discuss the development of this economic cooperation of trade between Arab countries and Germany under the current economic crisis.
Dr Afnan Al-Shuaiby, Secretary General and Chief Executive of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, addresses the forum/ Arab women in the global economy session of the Forum. She described the crucial role Arab women are playing in the development of a prosperous economy adding that today many women now active in a remarkably diverse number of professions, including the armed forces, finance, engineering, the judiciary and the new technology industries. Furthermore, Dr Afnan Al-Shuaiby indicated entrepreneurial and investment activities as becoming increasingly popular option for Arab women keen balance their traditional roles in the home and their career aspirations. In the UAE women make up 60% of the workforce in medical care, education, nursing and pharmacy, and constitute around 40% of the workforce in the banking sector. This evidence stresses how far women have come to make vital contributions to the business world.
Also , she highlights that although the advances made by women in the move toward a greater role in the professional world is real and significant, more needs to be done for women to be able to realize their full potential. Drawing on research recently released by the UAE banking group The National Investor (TNI), she revealed that women in the GCC currently hold only 1.5% of boardroom seats, although their presence is increasing. She maintains that although this figure is small compared to the US (13.6%) and Norway (22%) it is higher than several developed nations such as Japan whose female representation in the boardroom is just 0.4%. She emphasized that more needs to be done to develop the support services available to women in business along with more initiatives to encourage female entrepreneurs. The Secretary-General pointed towards the necessity of making available opportunities for Arab women to team up with investors interested in financing their business projects. Underscoring the role the private sector and global partners could play in initiating such support, she relayed the benefits offered by the dynamism and creativity of Arab women.
