Dubai: Hani Al Hamli, Secretary General of the Dubai Economic Council (DEC), recently received the delegates of Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP) of the US Department of Commerce, headed by James D. Filpi, Senior Attorney International, accompanied by David Carbajal, Economic Officer Political/Economic Section of the US Consulate in Dubai.
The meeting was also attended by international legal consultants from Mayer Brown Ltd.
The two parties discussed the cooperation links between DEC's secretariat and CLDP concerning commercial law.
Al Hamli said the meeting was a result of coordination between the Legal Affairs and Research Centre (LARC), the operational arm of the DEC's Secretariat and CLDP to enhance cooperation in improving commercial laws and legislation, particularly those currently applied at the federal and local levels in the UAE.
Importance
In this context, Al Hamli asserted the importance of the meeting in terms of exchanging technical experience in commercial law and various related laws in ways that cope with the best practices worldwide.
In turn, LARC would provide its expertise in legal studies that support econ-omic policy research to enhance economic growth.
Al Hamli said the meeting is the fruit of coordination between the DEC Secretariat and the US Embassy to strengthen the commercial ties between the Dubai business sector and its counterpart in the USA.
The CLDP was established in 1992 as a division of the US Department of Commerce that helps achieve US foreign policy goals in developing countries through commercial legal forms.
CLDP's unique government-to-government technical assistance draws upon highly experienced regulators, judges, policymakers, business leaders and attorneys from both the public and private sectors.
CLDP lawyers, resident advisers, programme specialists and administrative personnel are multicultural and have expertise in international business, commercial law, trade relations and development assistance.
CLDP has helped develop the legal infrastructure to support domestic and international businesses through programmes in more than 40 countries.
Al Hamli said that LARC is actively participating in improving legal policies and strategies in addition to proposing recommendations relating to legal reforms through advice forwarded to the Government of Dubai.
He added: "To realise this aim, LARC is currently involved in studying a package of local and federal laws and regulations that have direct and indirect impacts on Dubai and the UAE economy, such as the Federal Arbitration Law, Federal Company Law, Federal Competition Law, Intellectual Property Rights Law, and others."
Competitive advantage
In terms of the role of legislation in the economy, Al Hamli asserted that the aim of increasing the growth rate and enhancing the competitive advantage of any country relies on the availability of an enhanced legal and regulatory environment that induces labour, entrepreneurship, productivity and innovation.
Al Hamli also said that "the most important sub-indicators of global competitiveness are the legal laws which include a number of rules and regulations covering various areas such as openness, investment incentives, subsidies, doing business, etc.
Additionally, the competitiveness relies on labour legislation such as that relating to unemployment and immigration."
At the end of meeting, the DEC Secretariat and CLDP agreed on the agenda of future cooperation in terms of revising, improving and proposing commercial laws. The two parties also agreed to sign an MOU to enhance the strategic cooperation between them.
