US sees huge business scope in Gulf
dubai — The UAE’s and US’ relationship is only going to go from strength to strength, experts said.
“As of this moment, the US-UAE commercial relationship is at its highest,” said Bilal Sabouni, chief executive of the American Business Council of Dubai & the Northern Emirates.
Speaking at the American Business Council’s Independence Day Celebration dinner on Friday, Sabouni noted that both countries were enjoying their eighth year of consecutive bilateral trade growth.
“We stand at just below $26 billion in bilateral trade,” he said. “That is a very impressive number, and in fact, the UAE is the US’ number one trading partner in the region. It is significantly greater than even that of Saudi Arabia, and that is a feat in itself since Saudi Arabia is a much larger country.”
The value of the bilateral trade between the countries is also greater than that of Egypt and India. “What we have seen in terms of the greatest growth last year were the UAE’s exports to the US, which grew at over 30 per cent. This is a major leap.”
Sabouni added that the US has a very large presence in the UAE when it comes to the aviation industry, and that both countries enjoy a great relationship when it comes to the defence industry. Both countries also have a great relationship when it comes to the automotive industry with American cars being popular in the UAE.
“In addition, there is also the services component, which are much harder to quantitate but we know that it is a significant number,” he added.
Speaking about President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East, he noted that the US president was accompanied by a commercial delegation with a number of senior officials of major US corporations.
“There were a number of deals and major contracts signed, and a large number of letters of intent which were also drafted and signed. These created an enormous amount of business opportunity for US corporations and that then filters down to the SME market.”
“So, after very large projects and masterplan type of deals are implemented, this paves the way for the SME market to come in and service the smaller components within a larger project,” he added.
Sabouni also described countries in the GCC region as “very forward-thinking.” “The leaders of these countries have all unveiled a number of nation-wide strategies and plans such as the Mars Initiative and the UAE Vision 2021 that are well underway. What is great is that US corporations can integrate and align with a lot of these objectives that are laid out,” he said.
“We look forward to contributing to the UAE’s growth as it transitions from an emerging market to a very much mature market.”
Deputy Consul-General Martin T. Kelly also described the relationship between the UAE and the US as an “excellent, strong, robust bilateral partnership”. “It is an exciting time in our relationship and both sides are cooperating more on a host of issues and projects,” he said. “The strength of this relationship is just growing year by year, and this is reflected in the trade relationship between the two countries.”
— rohma@khaleejtimes.com