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Dubai /Â WAM
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in collaboration with Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), highlighted Dubai’s maritime industry at the 27th edition of the Shipbuilding, Machinery and Marine Technology Expo (SMM 2016) held recently in Hamburg, Germany.
Hisham Al Shirawi, 2nd Vice Chairman of Dubai Chamber, and Amer Ali, Executive Director of DMCA, led the trade mission.
In his welcome address during the Dubai Networking Reception at the UAE Pavilion, Al Shirawi said, that SMM 2016 is a leading global forum for the maritime industry that enabled Dubai-based companies to increase their exposure.
It also helped promote the emirate’s maritime industry and its strategic location to global audiences, he added.
Al Shirawi highlighted the importance of the maritime sector in Dubai’s world trade, and revealed that shipping accounted for 39 percent of Dubai’s total foreign trade in 2015 with ocean freight trade amounting to AED501 billion.
While lauding the partnership with DMCA and the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce in organising the trade mission, Al Shirawi noted that the biennial event in Hamburg was always an incredible learning experience as they had been participating in it since 2012.
He also lauded DP World in strengthening the global role of the UAE and Dubai in particular as a world-class leader in the operation of large and medium ports through the organisation, which today has a portfolio of more than 65 marine terminals across six continents.
The trade mission comprised 15 officials of Dubai-based shipping and maritime companies, who also participated in six events including a visit to the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and a dinner hosted by Ali Abdullah Al-Ahmad, UAE Ambassador to Germany.
More than 200 visitors who visited the Dubai Stand were attracted by a virtual reality video of Dubai and its logistics sectors, while the Dubai delegates attended 75 one-to-one business meetings with visiting delegates from the maritime industry.