Day: October 5, 2021

VIENNA, Dr. Margarete Schrambock, Austria’s Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, congratulated the UAE and its wise leadership on the historic opening of Expo 2020 Dubai, which is held under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, and on the UAE’s 50th anniversary.

In an exclusive interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Dr. Schrambock said that Austria’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai is a great opportunity to promote Austria as a reliable trading partner, an attractive investment hub and a global innovation leader.

She added that such a global platform offers Austrian companies endless opportunities to showcase their experiences to the world, especially as the event will see the participation of over 100 Austrian companies.

Dr. Schrambock stressed that Expo 2020 Dubai enables companies and experts to present new ideas to audiences from around the world, besides being an ideal meeting ground for potential trading partners.

She said that Austria’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai will contribute to developing UAE-Austrian economic relations, adding that Austrian companies will have the chance to showcase their latest innovations, which help address climate change, across environmental technology, life sciences and digital solutions fields.

The Minister explained that the UAE is Austria’s most important trading partner in the region, and highlighted the presence of branches of around 150 Austrian companies in the UAE.

Regarding the volume of Austria’s direct investments in the UAE, she affirmed that the UAE was ranked the 7th most important direct investment destination, with Austria’s direct investments in the UAE totalling €7.6 billion in 2020.

The UAE’s investments in Austria totalled €4.5 billion in 2020, while trade exchange between our countries reached €540 million, Dr. Schrambock concluded.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Ducab the leading provider of world-class solutions to the global energy sector – will now focus on providing ‘Energy for change’ underscored by a new brand identity, which was unveiled today by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, alongside Ducab’s leadership team at WETEX and Dubai Solar Show 2021.

The company’s strategy is designed to generate positive economic, social, and environmental impact. This renewed purpose will mean providing innovative, and sustainable energy solutions available in the market today – proudly developed in the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking at WETEX, Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, Chairman of Ducab, said: ‘Founded over 40 years ago, we grew rapidly with the radical transformation of the UAE and the wider Middle East region. During this time, we never stood still. Our ambition took us to 45 countries around the world, and from under 100 employees to a global workforce of more than 1,400. As we seek to expand our business into new sectors and new geographies, our revitalised corporate vision and values set a clear direction for our next chapter of sustainable growth.”

Ducab continues to serve customers worldwide in the fields of construction, transportation, industry, and other verticals. Currently, the brand is also focused on investments in the development, certification, and production of end-to-end energy solutions tailored around customer needs in solar, wind, and nuclear power. All three business units under Ducab group will be involved: Ducab, the core cable and wires business; DMB, the provider of high-quality industrial metals; and Ducab HV, the provider of specialised high-voltage utility solutions. “We will continue to promote innovation as an organisational value, believing that our choices of materials and technology will help to shape and improve the future of the sectors in which we operate,” said Mohammad Abdul Rahman Almutawa, Group CEO of Ducab, at the event.

This strategic realignment comes at a time when the renewable energy sector is growing faster than ever, with the entire world focusing on mitigating climate change through decarbonisation the move from coal, oil, and gas power to renewable sources like wind and solar. The UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050 plans to increase the contribution of clean energy sources within the total capacity mix to 50% by 2050, through projects such as the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, designed to be one of the largest single-site solar parks in the world with a planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030.

Ducab has already started to recalibrate many of its own operations around sustainability. This includes a strategy for raw material procurement with a greater emphasis on local and regional sourcing. This will further reduce the company’s environmental footprint and support the UAE’s industrial ecosystem. Ducab recently opened its first in-house solar plant to power its new headquarter building in Jebel Ali and parts of its manufacturing plant, setting new standards for managing industrial emissions and energy consumption. The launch of the new UAE industrial strategy earlier this year reflects the enormous opportunities ahead. Not only does it aim to raise the contribution to GDP of the industrial sector to AED300 billion by 2031, but it is also aligned with the UAE’s international commitments to advancing sustainable economic growth, deploying clean energy solutions, driving industrial innovation, and promoting responsible consumption and production.

Ducab aims to be an active contributor to programmes within ‘Operation 300bn.’ This has involved supplying flagship energy projects such as the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth; HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong; Hornsea One the UK’s largest offshore wind farm; and South Korea’s Shin Hanul one and two nuclear reactors. Ducab continues to supply leading flagship projects in the UAE, including over 90% of the wire and cable requirements for Expo2020 Dubai.

Ducab does all this while continuing to strengthen the participation of Emirati youth in the industrial sector. Its Emiratisation programme focuses on internships, training, and succession planning, and has led to the successful recruitment and retention of talented UAE nationals at every level across the organisation.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, and the French Export Credit Agency Bpifrance Assurance Export have signed a reinsurance agreement to increase joint Emirati and French projects globally.

The agreement, which was signed by Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, and François Lefebvre, General Manager of Bpifrance Assurance Export, and in the presence of Pedro Novo, Executive Director in charge of Export at Bpifrance, will further strengthen the robust trade and economic cooperation between the UAE and France and boost exports in both countries by providing export insurance solutions for Emirati and French companies.

The UAE and France’s export credit agencies entered into this agreement to work towards pursuing strategic collaboration in areas such as exploration of mutual opportunities for insurance, reinsurance, co-insurance services for export of goods in third countries. Both parties will also seek to identify companies that could benefit from the agreement and will promote the agreement amongst their customers and potential customers.

The export communities in both countries stand to gain from this partnership, as it aims to provide ease of access to a range of export credit and financing and investment insurance products.

Commenting on the agreement, Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, said: “The UAE and France have always shared exceptional trade relations, and over the past years, these bilateral ties have witnessed a significant leap. The new agreement comes as a sequel to the MoU that ECI and Bpifrance Assurance Export signed in June 2020 to explore, strengthen, and enhance the trade and economic cooperation between France and the UAE. This agreement underscores ECI’s commitment to consistently improve and create alliances to help provide much-needed incentives for businesses and exporters. This cooperation will go a long way in helping the UAE and French exporters gain access to international markets, protect their cash flows, and offer guarantees to their lenders, thus strengthening their presence on the global marketplace.”

In keeping with its mission to boost French exports and promoting its range of products, Bpifrance offers a wide array of export insurance solutions for French companies and banks with the direct guarantee of the French State. It also interacts regularly with foreign export credit agencies at general meetings and seminars of the Berne Union, the leading global association for the export credit and investment insurance industry, or at bilateral meetings in the interest of exchanging and sharing best practices and expanding cooperation.

Discussing the potential of the agreement for the growth of business opportunities in both countries, Pedro Novo, Executive Director in charge of Export at Bpifrance, commented: “We are looking forward to strengthening our collaboration with ECI, the UAE Federal export credit company. We believe this partnership will reinforce France’s commercial ties with the UAE and make a significant difference for our respective businesses, especially SMEs, by making it easier to access the wide range of export credit solutions offered by both ECAs.”

As part of boosting investment and trade ties, ECI earlier signed agreements with its counterparts in major European countries such as the UK and Italy. The agreement with France has been deemed another milestone in ECI’s mission to deepen the UAE’s economic ties and non-oil trade.

The UAE is France’s second-largest trade partner in the region. Since 2007, the annual strategic dialogue between the two countries has been hosted to strengthen the bilateral relations for achieving their shared goals. Data from the UAE Ministry of Economy shows that the non-oil foreign trade between the countries stood at AED 19.7 billion in 2020, and the bilateral trade between Dubai and France recorded a surge to AED8.5 billion in the first half of 2021.

Source: Emirates News Agency