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Credit crunch no barrier to Middle East trade

A British international trade expert based in Dubai told North East businesses last week that there were ‘fantastic’ opportunities available for export trade with the Middle East despite the impact of the credit crunch.

Jeff Wilson of UK Trade & Investment, and director of trade and investment at the British Embassy in Dubai, said that growth in the United Arab Emirates had been cut by 4% due to tougher worldwide economic conditions. But, he said that the Emirates’ economy was still growing at 7% per year.

Mr Wilson was speaking at a conference - organised by UKTI, the County Durham Development Company (CDDC) and the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) - dedicated to giving firms trade tools for doing business with the UAE.

He said: “The credit crunch is slowing growth but it is still better growth than in Europe, USA and the UK.”

Stewart Watkins, CDDC managing director, laid the challenge to businesses in the audience to capitalise on the wealth of information and advice made available at the UAE conference. He said: “In the difficult times we find ourselves in at the moment, all the opportunities we present to you are valuable. It is up to you to exploit them.”

He said: “We realised very quickly that many business opportunities in that area were readily available. For the last three years we have been building relationships in the UAE to provide a foundation of market development to help regional companies maximise opportunities for success.”

Jeff Wilson at UKTI, himself originally from South Shields and now living in Dubai, said that businesses should focus initially on exploring opportunities in the main UAE federal and state strategies and on the major projects.

He said: “There are tremendous opportunities but you shouldn’t forget that it is a very competitive market in the UAE. It is one that everybody is chasing because it is a high growth market.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .