Oct.4 – 138 companies, 8 banking groups and more than 300 participants are taking part in the 33rd System Mission organized by Confindustria, Abi , ICE – Agency for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian firms, Unioncamere, the Italian Enterprise Network, and the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives with the contribution of all participating institutions. Under the aegis of the Ministries for Foreign Affairs and Economic Development, the event will take place in the United Arab Emirates October 6-9. The mission will stop in the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai to explore opportunities for commercial and industrial collaboration and investment. The event was organized in view of the fact that the United Arab Emirates, 5th largest oil & gas producer and 3rd for proven reserves, is attempting an economic diversification process. The UAE has in fact seen the hydrocarbons sector’s contribution to GDP gradually decline, now standing at around 23% of total GDP, lower than services, stable at 50%. In the UAE there are numerous industrial parks and free trade zones that aim at attracting investments in specific sectors. During the Italian mission, there will be an institutional Forum, the highlight of the initiative, as well as key meetings and seminars between Italian and UAE companies, in-depth sessions with local stakeholders, visits and workshops in the medical, food, wine, hotel contract and oil & gas sectors. At the head of the mission, there is the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, and he is joined by the president of the Technical Committee for the internationalization of Confindustria, Paolo Zegna, the President of ICE, Riccardo Monti, the representative of the Presidential Committee Abi with responsibility for internationalization, Guido Rosa, the Vice President of Alliance of Cooperatives Italian, Giorgio Bertinelli, and the Vice-President of CNA representing the Italian Enterprise Network, Giorgio Aguzzi. According to Squinzi “political stability, a growing economy, an increasingly diversified and dynamic economy, the geographical proximity – especially strategic for our SMEs, low logistics costs and a favorable climate for business activities are just some of the elements that make the United Arab Emirates a market of great attraction for Italian companies.” Minister Calenda continued, “the UAE is now the main outlet for Italian exports in the whole eastern Mediterranean and North Africa area, thus representing a real opportunity to seize with even more determination. The UAE is synonymous with reliability, professionalism and profit. So we re-organized our mission system to strengthen and strategize our business presence in the countries.”
