|
Visit of the
President and the Secretary General to Gulf countries
12-17
November 2011
Our President Mr. Werner Oberli and our Secretary
General, Mr. Bahaa El Attar carried out round
visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, the
State of Qatar and the State of Kuwait
during the period from 12 to 17 November, 2011, which enjoyed wide
coverage of the local media.
The visit objective was to strengthen economic
cooperation between Switzerland and the Arab countries and have
closer cooperation with the local Chambers in the Arab countries of
the Gulf region.
The visit aimed also to identify the investment
opportunities for the Swiss companies in the GCC countries and to
discuss possible ways to develop trade between Switzerland and the
Arab countries in the Gulf, and to present our activities to local
Arab companies.
Our
President Mr. Werner Oberli and our Secretary
General Mr. Bahaa
El Attar
has
been received in Bahrain
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
During their visit to Bahrain, they met Dr. Essam
Fakhro, the president of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce, who expressed
interest to exchange trade delegations and
promote cooperation, especially within the Tourism and Education
sectors.
In the meantime, during the meeting the
representative of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Bahrain, stressed
interest to conclude bilateral agreements for “Non double taxation”
and “Investment protection”.
Mainly the proposal to organise “Arab-Swiss
Economic Forum” was discussed with the possibility to invite Bahrain
as the Guest of Honour.
Major projects financed by the Government of
Bahrain within fields of housing, roads, hospitals, schools, airport
expansion, could be found in the following link
www.tenderboard.gov.bh.
Our
President with Mr. Abdulla Al Saleh, Under Secretary of Ministry of
Foreign Trade and
Dr.
Wolfgang Amadeus Bruelhart, the Swiss Ambassador to the U.A.E.
In the United Arab Emirates, many interesting
meeting were held with Mr. Mohammed Al Romaithi, the Chairman of Abu
Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and with Mr. Ahmed Seddiqi, Board member,
and Mr. Hamad Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce.
The visit was a good opportunity to discuss
different cooperation proposals, especially the proposal to organise
the “Arab-Swiss Economic Forum” during the second half of June 2012.
The Emiratis expressed their interest in the renewable energy,
specially in Masdar City, and their willingness to exchange trade
delegations.
In Dubai our President and our Secretary General
have been invited by Mr. Walter Deplazes,
Consul General of
Switzerland,
to a business launch. Meantime, our Board member Mr. Chris Watts
kindly hosted a dinner, which constituted an opportunity to discuss
ways of cooperation with representatives from the “Swiss Business
Hub”, as well as from the “Swiss Business Council” and to have
meeting with representatives of Swiss companies working their.
Another interesting meeting was held with the
presence of the Swiss Ambassador to the U.A.E Dr. Wolfgang Amadeus
Bruelhart with Mr. Abdulla Al Saleh, Under Secretary of Ministry of
Foreign Trade, in order to strengthen cooperation between
Switzerland and the U.A.E. Mr. Al Saleh presented the ongoing
efforts by the Emirati Government to diversify the foreign trade
structure and increase the portion of the non-oil sector,
highlighting the success of the U.A.E in becoming one of the most
important hubs for re-export in the Gulf. He also indicated that
U.A.E will ratify the Free Trade Agreement concluded between
Switzerland and GCC Countries in the near future.
On the other hand the Emiratis plan to
send business delegation to Europe in the second quarter of the next
year, and looking forward to include Switzerland within the program
of this mission. Meantime they expressed interest in our proposal to
hold the “Arab-Swiss Economic Forum” during the second half of 2012.
It is worth mentioning that Switzerland is one of
the top ten trading partners of the U.A.E
and is one of exporting markets.
Our
President and our Secretary
General during the meeting
which was held in
Kuwait
Chamber of Commerce.
On the other side, during their visit to Qatar
Chamber of Commerce, our President and our Secretary General have
met Mr. Mohammed Al Kuwari, Vice Chairman of the Chamber and his
team to discuss cooperation proposals, especially the proposal to
organise the “Arab-Swiss Economic Forum” during the second half of
2012.
They have been informed of the high Government
engagement in the investment process, with a budget of $300 billion
to promote Qatar as an important hub for business in the Gulf.
In view of the well known reputation of the Swiss
technology and the huge investment projects in Qatar, the Qataris
invite SMEs and other export industries to invest in Qatar.
Mr.
Osama Al Nisf,
during the delivery of a gift
to our President Mr. Werner Oberli
Finally, during their visit to Kuwait Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, our President and our Secretary General were
first received by Mr. Abdulaziz Al Khaldi, Under Secretary of the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, who praised the importance of
Kuwaiti Swiss relations and stressed their desire to establish a
joint Government Committee, as a potential frame to discuss
promotion of trade and economic relations between the two countries.
He highlighted the possibility of concluding a tourism agreement in
view of the importance of Kuwaiti tourism in Switzerland.
Mr. Khalidi has pointed out the facilities provided
to foreign investors in Kuwait, where foreign companies are exempt
from taxes by 100% during the first ten years, while the tax rate is
only 15% afterwards.
Meantime he welcomed our proposal to invite Kuwait
as the Guest of Honour to the planned “Arab-Swiss Economic Forum”
next year.
The meeting at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce was
highly organized by the member of Kuwaiti Chamber Board of Directors
and our Board Member and Vice President Mr. Osama Al Nisf, and has
attracted the participation of 15 Kuwaiti companies. Our President
and our Secretary General have discussed cooperation proposals
between the two Chambers, especially our proposal to organize the
“Arab-Swiss Economic Forum”, which are welcomed by the Kuwaiti side,
who expressed high interest in promoting trade and exchange of
business delegations, and they welcomed our proposal to invite
Kuwait as the Guest of Honour to the “Arab-Swiss Economic Forum”
next year. Nevertheless, Kuwaitis expressed their concern of the
high value of the Swiss Franc.
Meantime it was upon the kind invitation for a
dinner hosted by H.E. Mr. Etienne Thevoz, Swiss Ambassador in
Kuwait, our President and our Secretary General have been able to
meet with business community dealing with Switzerland. |
