Annual Investment Meeting lines up Top-notch global experts

The 2018 edition of AIM is taking place at the backdrop of global economic recovery. A number of global inspiring business and thought leaders will lead interesting discussions on investment trends, public-private partnerships, sustainability, investment promotion, cryptocurrencies, and sovereign wealth fund at the forthcoming Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) to be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 9 to 11.

The prestigious line-up of speakers and panelists include Cheremin Sergey, Minister and Head of Department for Foreign Economic Activity and International Relations of Moscow City Government, Huda Al Lawati, Chief Investment Officer of Savola Group, Henrik Von Scheel, Father of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Joao Vasconcelos, Senior Advisor of Clearwater International and Former Secretary of State of Industry for the Portuguese Government, Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, Michael Maduell, President of Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and Yonov Agah, Deputy Director-General of World Trade Organization.

According to the World Investment Report 2017 published by the United Nations Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), “Higher economic growth expectations across major regions, a resumption of growth in trade and a recovery in corporate profits could support a small increase in foreign direct investment (FDI). Global flows are forecast to increase to almost $1.8 trillion in 2017, continuing to $1.85 trillion in 2018.”

In AIM 2018, eighteen countries / investment destinations will take part in country presentation arranged by AIM organizing committee, which will allow various municipalities, cities, and countries as a whole to promote investment opportunities to potential investors and highlight the prospective of different sectors they are promoting.

This significant feature of AIM will include countries such as UAE, China, Georgia, Italy, India, South Korea, Russia, Egypt, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Jordan, Botswana, Cameroon, and Nigeria. The presentations will be highly informative emphasizing important economic features and conditions as well as investment data including fascinating details about the investment environment in these countries.

AIM will mainly focus on promoting FDIs and effective ways to attract investors to various economic sectors. The UAE ranked 11 for being the largest FDI recipient in Asia, according to World Investment Report.

The three-day conference will be covering several key topics with series of interactive presentations, debates, interviews and discussions on regional investments which will be facilitated by a faculty of global experts. The important topics and highlight issues of the conference comprise of sustainable development through FDI, new trends in economic opportunity & digital innovations, understanding the potential of Blockchain, how to compete for investment in Industry 4.0, sovereign wealth funds and sustainable investment.

The first session will take place after the opening ceremony on 9th of April.  It will be a Global Leaders Debate on the topic “Driving Sustainable Development through FDI”.  This will explore how foreign direct investment can be used as a vehicle to drive sustainable development. The limelight session will uncover the ways in which governments can promote FDI linkages between developed countries and emerging markets, with a view of bolstering sustainable development, ensuring equality of opportunity, and an unbiased regulatory landscape.

The high-level panel will convene Heads of State, Academia, Heads of International Institutions and Investors from Developing and Mature Economies.

“Understanding the Promise of Blockchain” is the topic for the second session. The session will examine Blockchain technology and its promise to contribute to economic productivity, transparency and environmental responsibility, while exploring the opportunities its implementation will hold for private and public sector in Dubai, focusing on key industries such as banking and fin-tech, energy, healthcare, e-commerce, transportation, smart-cities and tourism. There will two more conferences concentrating on Trade and FDI.

Session three is on The Rise of Protectionism which will focus on exploring why world trade and FDI are growing slowly and what the implications for sustainable development are, in particular in emerging markets but also in developed market.

The second day will start with the conference focusing on “How to Compete for Investment in Industry 4.0”. This session will explore how governments can capture more sophisticated investment with a higher technology content.

The next session will emphasise on the evolution of FDI and how technology is changing the future of productivity and growth. This session will explore how multi-stakeholder collaboration and investment can optimize the potential of the adult workforce. It will identify how emerging market governments can better understand and anticipate investor needs, creating the types of skills that investors require.

Following session targets to better understand how Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF’s) incorporate Sustainable Development Goals into their investment strategies.

Last two sessions highlight on the Public-Private Partnerships for Public Infrastructure Development and Incentives Policies for the Benefit of Nations. The first one will examine the scope for PPPs with foreign investors – which in most cases originate from developed countries – as a means for emerging economies to build and manage their public infrastructure. And for the other one, expert panelists will discuss how incentives can be used to ensure they do actually make a difference and maximise benefits for the country - not just the company.

On the third and last day session, the panel will assess the economic landscape of national economies and its resulting impact on the regional economic ecosystem, while identifying areas and industries where economic growth can be expected and opportunities to invest on. This session will start with investment perspective in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Africa, and highlight economic landscape and its resulting impact on the regional economic ecosystem, while identifying areas and industries where economic growth can be expected.

The forum will assemble key policy-makers, institutional and non-institutional investors, as well as heads of international institutions, political economists and key experts.

Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO of AIM Organizing Committee, said, “In the past seven years, the Annual Investment Meeting has established itself as a leading platform which helped to strengthen UAE’s role as a distinctive investment destination and has brought together thousands of exhibitors and participants to create network, promote projects and attract investments.

“Registration of AIM is still open, which unlocks the doors to the investors, government policy makers, project developers, and promoters of large-scale communities, industries, financial institutions to network and create a win-win situation for all.

“AIM Investors’ hub will give opportunities to access to top investors and government leaders and arrange B2B and G2B meetings which can be the groundwork for future partnerships.

“Moreover, through the exceptionally unique conferences, the participants will get to know about latest location developments, investment promotion, FDI trends, challenges and solutions from more than thousand experts and FDI specialists.”

The Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) is the largest investment conference and exhibition in the Middle East. Being an initiative from the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates – AIM takes place every year from its inauguration in 2011.

Annual Investment Meeting is the largest international gathering of its kind that promotes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that helps accelerate economic growth and assures to produce an outstanding investment conference with top-notch global experts, renowned academics and experienced consultants to educate AIM audiences with contemporary investment trends in an ever-changing domain of FDI.

AIM 2017 Conference, which was the seventh edition of AIM, gathered more than 100 powerful FDI intellectuals and renowned experts offering participants the latest investment aptitude, trends and updates on international investment. It also offered parallel sessions which focused on some sector-specific issues such as FDI in agriculture, energy, infrastructure, finance and innovation.