The Minister of Commerce and Industries, Serigne Gueye Diop, chaired yesterday, Monday June 3, 2024, the opening ceremony of the Special Business Forum in Dakar entitled “Doing business with Senegal”. The objective of this meeting, organized by the Dubai International Chamber, is to connect companies from the two markets, with opportunities to stimulate bilateral trade and investments between Senegal and the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai International Chamber, one of three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, led a delegation of Dubai-based businesses to participate in a trade mission to Senegal. As part of the mission, the chamber organized a special Business Forum in Dakar titled “Doing Business with Senegal”, aimed at connecting businesses from both markets, with opportunities to boost trade and investment bilateral.
Presiding over the opening ceremony of this meeting, the Minister of Trade and Industries, Serigne Gueye Diop, stressed that the United Arab Emirates are among Senegal’s main trading partners. Indeed, he informs, in 2022, Senegal’s imports from the United Arab Emirates were valued at 363.7 billion FCFA, just behind China (756.9 billion FCFA) and India (568 .2 billion FCFA.
However, he deplores, our country exports little to the United Arab Emirates, with a value of 35 million FCFA in 2022, even if an upward trend is observed. “I am convinced that these figures are below the potential of our trade. Our objective is to do more and better to strengthen our production and supply capacities and to exploit the export niches identified in the immense market that constitutes the United Arab Emirates,” he says. He therefore invites Senegalese operators, entrepreneurs and businessmen to seize this opportunity to exploit business opportunities with the Emirati private sector.
Serigne Gueye Diop also invites Emirati and Dubai businessmen to come and invest in Senegal, which offers stability and all the guarantees for productive investments. “The prospects are even more promising, because with the ministry whose management has been entrusted to me, we intend to successfully implement the 8 industrial and commercial zones in the 8 poles of the Projects. 14 then 46 industrial zones, agropoles and training centers in the 46 departments,” he said. As part of the Business Forum, the chamber made an informative presentation on the economic landscape and competitive advantages of Dubai, as well as the opportunities available to Senegalese businesses.
At the end of this meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Dubai Chambers of Commerce and the Dakar Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (CCIAD). The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation and partnership in organizing events, trade missions, exhibitions and conferences, as well as to exchange knowledge and experiences and promote mutual investments between communities of affairs of Senegal and Dubai.
Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, finds that Senegal is not only the second fastest growing economy in Africa, but also the fourth fastest growing in the world. According to him, this positions the country as a market of great strategic importance for Dubai. According to Abdoulaye Sow, president of the CCIAD, this cooperation agreement lays the foundations of a partnership through which the two institutions intend to work to strengthen their economic and commercial cooperation for mutually beneficial business. “Indeed, one of our ambitions is to strengthen the promotion of the Senegal destination for investments, but also to better promote our products and our assets internationally, particularly in friendly countries such as the United Arab Emirates. “, he says.
