DUBAI: Slovenia on Thursday became the latest country to sign up for Dubai Expo 2020, the UAE Minister of Economy, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, told delegates to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Slovenia Seminar.
The move would put Slovenia firmly on the UAE’s map, he said. Only Switzerland had signed up earlier.
Dubai Chamber President and CEO, Hamad Bu Amim, told the seminar, which attracted 200 government and business delegates and was intended to promote trade and investment between the two countries, that Slovenia offered UAE firms investment opportunities in tourism, IT and tech innovation, and logistics.
Although Slovenia is small — it has a population of around 2 million people — Bu Amim said the opportunities it offered matched well with what Dubai’s primary growth drivers, including trade, tourism and transport.
The chamber’s chairman, Majid Saif Al Ghurair, said members’ exports to Slovenia grew to Dh98 million in 2015, from Dh15.2 million in 2011 and four Slovenian companies were already registered with the Dubai Chamber.
Bu Amim told delegates, “We believe the most expected area of growth between us and Slovenia is tourism. It’s important for both countries.”
The chamber’s economists suggested Dubai could help drive Slovenia’s tourism market from an estimated value of €1.4 billion in 2016 to €2.6 billion by 2026, he said.
“We expect Slovenia can attract more tourists with the experience of Dubai and through Dubai to Slovenia — I’m talking about tourists from the Gulf region, who are considered one of the highest spenders among global tourists.”
In addition there were opportunities for UAE firms to invest in Slovenia’s tourism infrastructure, he added, including hotel construction. The UAE’s experience gave it a comparative advantage, he said, pointing to Dubai’s 770 hotels offering around 100,000 hotel rooms.
In turn, Slovenia’s technological expertise would find a ready market in Dubai, he said, and the seminar later featured a presentation by Slovenian tech firm Robotina, which has worked with UAE property management firm Imdaad to develop systems to help it improve maintenance efficiency and fleet management.
“We believe Slovenian companies can utilise Dubai as a hub to provide services to the United Arab Emirates or the Gulf region and that can be done wither by establishing here in the UAe or by partnering with companies from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates,” Bu Amim said.
He also identified logistics as an important area of synergy, with Venice, Vienna, Munich, Zagreb and Budapest all within 500km of Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. “You can see how establishing warehousing or some logistics infrastructure can benefit from the expected growth of trade between Eastern and Western Europe,” he said.
Earlier, Al Mansouri pointed out that there is currently no direct air link between Dubai and Slovenia, but suggested that could change.
Samo Hribar Milic, General Manager of Slovenia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pointed out that proximity to major central European cities was not the country’s only advantage. “Slovenia is a small country,” he said, “but with a very strong economy, innovative industries and excellent infrastructure just in the heart of Europe.”
He added: “We serve as a hub, an entrance to the European Union, because as a part of the European Union there are no borders, no different regulations.”
