Dubai Chamber to open office in Argentina

Dubai / WAM

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), announced plans to open a new representative office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which will become the chamber’s second office in Latin America.
The announcement came during a meeting between Argentina’s Vice President, Gabriela Michetti, and a high-level delegation from Dubai. The delegation visited the country as part of a trade mission to Latin America which was organised by the chamber. The meeting followed on from the delegation’s visit to Brazil, where the chamber opened its eighth representative office in Sao Paulo.
Michetti welcomed the announcement and expressed her willingness to provide all necessary support and facilities to fast-track the opening of the chamber’s Buenos Aires office, adding that it will give a major boost to UAE-Argentina relations.
She described the UAE as an important strategic and economic partner for Argentina, and expressed an interest to organise a high-level visit to the country in the near future to showcase opportunities within Argentina’s agriculture sector.
Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber, said that Argentina offers tremendous potential for UAE businesses and investors, especially within the country’s logistics, renewable energy, tourism, agri-business, and manufacturing sectors. He pointed out that Dubai’s non-oil trade with Argentina recorded a modest 1.3 percent year-on-year increase to AED692 million ($188 million) in 2016, and highlighted the need to expand trade ties between businesses on both sides.
Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of Dubai Chamber, invited Argentine companies to participate in Gulfood, the world’s largest annual food and beverage exhibition which is hosted in Dubai every year, adding that the high quality of Argentine products enhances the country’s competitive advantage in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia markets.
He explained that the chamber’s new office in Buenos Aires will explore and identify new trade and investment opportunities for businesses in the UAE, while it will also work to attract more Argentine companies and SMEs in particular, to Dubai. He added that the office will help double the volume
of Dubai-Argentina trade in the coming years.
Dubai Chamber’s president and CEO highlighted several product categories as high-potential imports from Argentina, including fruits, dairy products, cereals, meat, seafood and leather, while high-potential products that could be exported from the UAE to Argentina include plastics, fertilisers, copper and inorganic chemicals.
In addition, there are $3 billion worth of infrastructure opportunities within Argentina’s airports and ports, Buamim said, noting that a lot of potential in this sector still needs to be explored. He revealed that Dubai Chamber is aiming to increase Latin America’s share of Dubai’s total trade from 3 percent to 6 percent over the next three years.
Addressing the delegation, Horacio Reyser, Argentina’s Secretary for International Economic Relations, revealed that the UAE-Argentine Joint Higher Committee for Cooperation recently met to discuss prospects and opportunities for mutual cooperation. Both sides have worked together to outline priorities and objectives to improve bilateral relations and barriers to trade, such as visa issues. He added that Argentina can play a key role in ensuring the UAE’s food security and expanding trade and investment within the
country’s food industry.
The Dubai delegation also met Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, Mayor of Buenos Aires, who praised the chamber for its plans to expand its presence within Latin America. He said the move would help attract foreign investment to Buenos Aires and enhance the prospects for economic cooperation between the city and Dubai.