Doing Business Technical Deep Dive begins in Dubai

The third high-profile Doing Business Technical Deep Dive kicked off in Dubai today, hosted by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, FCSA, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance.

Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, the event addresses the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, bringing together a host of renowned policymakers and experts in economics and business to explore opportunities and exchange expertise.

The four-day meeting themed ‘Global Aspiration Towards Business Growth and Economic Prosperity", brings together more than 350 experts from 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, MENA, and Asia. The agenda includes several panel discussions, workshops, lectures, and field trips to explore best practices in government entities around the UAE that have earned high global rankings on the Doing Business Report.

In her opening speech, Hessa bint Essa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development, said, "The UAE has established partnerships with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation that have led to a host of successes and accomplishments across various sectors. Our cooperation to support competitiveness is one of our most successful; the UAE believes in the Doing Business Report, welcomes its findings with an open mind, and implements its recommendations to advance through the ranks and assume the top spots among the countries of the world on the index."

"Our journey with competitiveness has had its fair share of challenges and successes that have propelled the UAE to the top ranks on numerous international competitiveness indexes," she added. "What the UAE accomplished in the past few decades, and what it still plans to accomplish, will serve as a solid foundation upon which we can build a competitive knowledge economy driven by human skills, and capable of materialising the 4th Industrial Revolution as on-the-ground projects and initiatives that serve to achieve the UAE Centennial 2071 Plan."

"We are gathered here today to discuss the Doing Business Report, but there are other reports we need to focus on as well," Hessa Buhumaid explained, citing the report titled ‘Women, Business, and the Law’ and the Human Capital Index. "With an abundance of reports available, governments now look to technical committees in the World Bank to listen to opinions and suggestions from relevant entities in their respective countries, and accept their feedback with an open mind."

For his part, Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Director-General of the FCSA, said, "We take international reports very seriously here in the UAE; we use them to launch projects and update legislations and procedures to be in line with reality and pave the way for a better future. We all have a common goal: to develop a single, unified approach for analysing and understanding the Doing Business Report and its projections for the upcoming years. We are here to exchange expertise and connect with experts and specialists."

"I have no doubt that the World Bank team will be taking this opportunity to have a closer look at the countries covered by the report, and exploring ways for countries to work together and make the study more credible and pertinent," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Matthew Hawkins, New Zealand’s Ambassador to the UAE, said, "The ease of doing business in the UAE is one of the leading factors that have made it an important business and commercial hub for our country. The UAE’s success is our success; we are delighted to see the momentous leaps it has taken in the past decades on the Ease of Doing Business Report."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.