His Excellency Salah ben Omeir Al Shamsi, president of the FCCI and president of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discussed with his Excellency Kane Ousmane, governor of the Central Bank of Mauritania, issues related to trade between the UAE and Mauritania and means to develop them, in addition to means to strengthen cooperation in the financial sector.

Al Shamsi stressed the significant volume of investment opportunities in the UAE in general and in Abu Dhabi in specific due to the exceptional construction boom and culture evolution that the country is witnessing.

In addition, he indicated that the chambers of commerce in the UAE market and promote available investment opportunities in the country and support the initiation of local, Arab and international partnerships to contribute in the UAE national development.

Mr. Ahmed al Gaizi – Head of the FCCI Economic Department – declared the announcement that had been circulated on mobile phones claiming that "tahina" sweet boxes that are being produced by a number of firms contain polluted titanium dioxide that causes immediate cancer.

It was spread out that this message was circulated by the commercial chamber, given that there is no so-called authority in the UAE. This claim is without any relevance and contacts have been made with all UAE chambers of commerce and industry and the related authorities and UAE municipalities to test its reliability and it proved to be just rumors, stressing that checking for poisonous or polluted ingredients is the responsibility of municipalities who have that privilege, and not that of chambers of commerce.

With the presence of his Excellency Abdul Malek Mouwaj, the deputy minister in the Algerian Embassy in Dubai and Mr. Ahmed Al Gaizi, Head of the FCCI economic department, his Excellency Shaheen Ali Shaheen, the FCCI assistant secretary general, discussed means of commercial cooperation between the UAE and Algeria at the FCCI's premises in Dubai.

Topics discussed revolved around the inauguration of a joint businessmen council between UAE and Algeria and the concern to increase trade between the two countries.

Mr. Shaheen emphasized the special relationships that exist between the UAE and Algeria that got even stronger due to the exchange of the official visits that have been made in the previous four years and that reached 60, of which 40 were made by Algerian delegates to the UAE. He also indicated that several agreements exist between the two countries in the economic, cultural, investment, scientific, financial, media and juridical domains.

He also pointed that trade volume between Algeria and the UAE has witnessed an increase in the past years: it has increased substantially in the previous years to reach more than 1.5 billion Dirham in 2006. As for UAE investments in the Algeria, they accounted for more than 40 billion Dirham.

Mr. Mouwaj, on his side, presented his thankfulness and appreciation to the facilities offered by the FCCI, especially to the Algerian delegations. In addition, he stressed the importance of continuously improving the economic and commercial relationships between the two countries and said that the Algerian government is ready to provide facilities for establishing UAE businesses in Algeria. Finally, he invited UAE firms to benefit from the privatization programs offered by his government.

The FCCI President and President of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Salah Salem Bin Omeir Al Shamsi, praised the efficient and positive role the media in the UAE plays in improving all domains, especially the commercial and industrial ones.He stressed that this era is that of information, and thus, the media has a more crucial role to play than ever, and in these terms it has to be accountable towards the society.

Additionally, during the annual meeting held in Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said to the media and communication representatives that the fact that the trade and industrial sectors are the essence of the development process clarifies the importance of the media and the efficient role it could play in enhancing this process. Finally, he stressed the crucial role the media also plays in being a primary partner for the Chambers of Commerce in the country in bringing the private and public sectors closer.

His Excellency Ahmad Jamea'a Al Gezi, head of the FCCI's economic department, received His Excellency Azobardi Jason, head of the Maltese parliamentary delegation, and the accompanying delegation, with the presence of His Excellency the Consul of Malta to the UAE. During the meeting issues of common interests and means to develop trade and commerce between the two allies were discussed.

Al Gezi stressed the importance of accentuating Maltese investments in the UAE, given the encouraging and challenging UAE investment atmosphere and the facilities offered by its government for investing in all domains, especially the tourism, constructions, services and the developing sectors.He declared the readiness of the FCCI to facilitate the relationship between the UAE and Maltese businessmen.

As for the head of the Maltese parliamentary delegation and the Maltese Consul, they both praised the regional and global position attained by the UAE and strengthened the importance of consolidating the cooperation, expertise sharing and investments between the two partners.

Finally, It is worth noting that trade between UAE and Malta is less than what is hoped for: it reached 700 million Dirham in 2005 while it was around only 62 million Dirham in 2003. In addition, the two countries have signed a dual taxation prevention agreement. The pact states the exemption of stocks returns from taxes in both the private and public sectors (tax is usually 35% of returns), the exemption of interests on stocks returns from taxes, in addition to the exemption of taxes from the revenues and profits on air transport operations.

The FCCI, with the collaboration of the Middle East Newspaper and the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, organizes the Saudi – UAE Economic Forum that will be held in Al Riyadh (Four Seasons Hotel) from March 24th till March 26th 2007, under the patronage of H.H Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Prince of Al Riyadh. It will be the first time for a UAE delegation of businessmen and businesswomen to visit the Saudi Kingdom to meet with their fellow Saudi businessmen and businesswomen. Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al Qassimi, the UAE Minister of Economy will head the UAE delegation.

For this occasion, Mr. Tarek Al Hamid, editor of the Middle East newspaper, said that the newspaper organization for this forum comes from its concern to consolidate its role in launching important economic events, adding that he is certain of the important role the media plays in the development process of any nation. The forum will consist of two main sessions. The first session, entitled " Strengthening Trade between the two Countries", will tackle 4 areas: the government role in creating a healthy environment for dual trade, the role of the private sector in minimizing trade barriers, the role of trade between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in strengthening the Gulf Economy, and finally the case of one Saudi project's experience in the UAE.

As for the second session entitled "Future Investments Horizons", it will also deal with four issues: the means for ensuring a balanced investment system under the existence of different investment systems in both countries, the economic regulations and the available investment opportunities, the most appealing domains for investment in the region in the following decade, and at last a case presentation of a UAE Project in Saudi Arabia.

On another note, the relationship between the UAE and Saudi Arabia has existed for long and is continuously and increasingly strengthening. For instance, trade statistics indicate that Saudi imports to the UAE represent 46% of total UAE imports from other Arab countries. Average trade volume between the two countries has increased from 7.6 billion Dirham in the year 2003 to reach 11.6 billion Dirham in the year 2005, with a growth of 15% and with expectations for further increase in light of the Gulf customs federation.

The FCCI participated in the 10th meeting held in Cairo by the trade committee emanating from the Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, with the presence of the representative of all Arab Chambers.

From the UAE side, his Excellency Shaheene Ali Shaheene – Assistant Secretary General for the FCCI – attended. He said that the committee discussed the 14th report prepared by the follow-up and executive committee concerning the Arab free trade zone and the needs for development in light of the European Union's experience.

This report is divided into two sections, one that deals with the Arab free trade zone while the other one tackles the results of the poll conducted by the secretariat general of the Arab chambers regarding the obstacles that faced the establishment of this free zone in 2006.

In a speech he held in the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and accompanied by Yemeni businessmen, his Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen, invited the UAE businessmen and investors to invest in Yemen. He stressed that the Yemeni government will provide the needed support and services to make these investments successful.

He mentioned that there are several opportunities present especially in the fields of tourism, healing services, water desalination, agriculture, and housing projects. He declared that there is a great need for housing projects, whether buildings or villas. In addition, he pointed out that his government offers a free land for each investment project which value exceeds 10 million US Dollar.

As for His Excellency engineer Salah Salem bin Omeir Al Shamsi, President of the FCCI and President of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he welcomed his honorary guests. He said that the chambers of commerce work under the instructions of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Ben Zayed, President of the UAE, and the Air Chief Marshal Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to strengthen economic ties with all regional countries and to establish economic and investment partnerships that result in mutual benefit for all parties.

Furthermore, Al Shamsi emphasized that, in the light of the industrial, commercial, economic, and investments capabilities of both countries, there are vast areas for cooperation between them. He mentioned that the strong official and social ties between the UAE and the Republic of Yemen were not reflected on the trade and economic partnership between them. For instance, the value of trade between these countries did not exceed 600 million US Dollar in 2005. He hoped that the discussions would end up finding solutions for increasing the flow of goods and investment between the two countries.

He added that the visit of His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh is one step towards consolidating relationships between the UAE and the Republic of Yemen. Further efforts from the private sectors of both side need to be done. Thus, Al Shamsi presented certain recommendations that would lead to achieve this goal, mainly establishing a joint business council and creating investment cooperation between the private sectors of two nations.

Finally, Al Shamsi emphasized the FCCI and the Abu Dhabi chamber's full support for Yemeni investors in the UAE and in Abu Dhabi specifically.