Dubai Chamber organised a breakfast roundtable for private and public sector stakeholders in Panama to introduce them to the trade and investment opportunities in Dubai due to Expo 2020, in addition to highlighting Dubai as a global business destination and gateway to the MENA region for Latin American countries.

Forty-five participants representing the private and public sectors attended the roundtable, from companies such as the Panama Tourism Authority, the investment promotion agency – Pro Panama, Panama Chamber of Technology, Banistimo Bank, Inverlink Bank, Verba Ordec Company and GAC Shipping Company, along with representatives from Emirates Airlines.

The presentations focused on the unique opportunities that Expo 2020 will offer the business community and how it will serve as a platform to encourage and enhance communication between various business communities from all parts of the world. The mega-event, to be held from October 2020 to April 2021 under the theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, aims to encourage collaboration and present opportunities, focusing on innovation and sustainability for a better world.

Dubai Chamber is the Official Business Partner of Expo 2020 and will be organising 33 events through those six months, with the most prominent of them being the three Global Business Forums, including the 4th GBF Latin America, which has played a key role in promoting economic partnerships between Dubai and Latin America.

Omar Khan, Director of International Offices at the Chamber, pointed out that bilateral trade between the UAE and Panama has shown a positive trend, with trade increasing by US$1 million between 2018 and 2019. This figure included a 135 percent increase in the export of coffee to the UAE. Last year, Panama exported pineapples to the UAE for the first time.

Khan further highlighted that Dubai’s non-oil trade with Panama amounted to AED96.5 million during the first half of 2019, which reflects a growth of 43 percent over the same period in 2018, thus proving that there is plenty of scope for identifying areas of synergy and further strengthening.

The Dubai Chamber Representative Office in Panama will continue to play a key role through such initiatives in guiding Panama companies that are keen to enter Dubai and expand to new markets through the emirate.