New Mexico Representative Chamber Brings Dubai Closer Than Ever

Last June, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the opening of its representation in Mexico City, which was attended by its president, HE Hammad Buamim (who recently announced his retirement after 16 years as the head of the chamber), Vice President of International Relations Hassan Al Hashemi (appointed to the role of president) Director of the International Offices Omar Alkhan as well as Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Mexico Ahmed Almenhali. At this event, they presented their director for Mexico, Daniel Vargas, a brilliant professional from Jalisco who was also a business adviser during Expo 2020 Dubai for the Mexico pavilion.

Buamim said that with this opening, they seek to increase bilateral trade between Mexico and Dubai up to 50 percent in the next two years, thanks to the fact that the Mexican territory is a great market of opportunity for growth and supply. He also pointed out that, “Mexico is the second-largest provider in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico exports more products to the world, but not to Dubai, and could export more. We are focused on six or seven areas where we believe that the commercial relationship can grow more than 50 percent, and we can do that in the next two years. Since we currently trade US$1.2 billion, we can grow to US$2 billion.”

For Mexican businessmen, it is essential to understand the role of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an entity that is different from our chambers. The Chamber is a public nonprofit organization and the stated purpose of the organization is to support the business community in Dubai and promote Dubai as an international business hub. More precisely, it would become the economic promotion office of Dubai, just like the now-defunct ProMéxico was for our country. The purpose of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce is the promotion of all companies that are registered in Dubai; that is, any company formally registered acquires the basic membership of the chamber and can access the many benefits that it offers. The chamber currently has 12 offices around the world promoting trade to and with Dubai.

In 2018, the Mexican Embassy in the United Arab Emirates, at that time under the charge of Francisca Méndez Escobar, had tried to open this representation. In 2019, I had the opportunity as vice president of Concamin to accompany the ambassador to the headquarters of the chamber in Dubai to resume the initiative. It was very emotional to see the interest there was in Mexico and that resulted in an invitation to participate in the Global Business Forum LATAM, which incidentally is organized and financed by the Dubai chamber and that in April 2019 was held in Panama. During the Forum, Buamim officially announced the opening of the representation in Mexico City in 2020, but we all know how the world changed that year and, of course, this opening was postponed. It was not until 2021 that within the framework of Expo 2020 Dubai, the initiative was resumed and it was formally specified for 2022 at the end of Expo 2020. At this moment, the Mexican ambassador to the United Arab Emirates is an official with one of the most notable careers in the Mexican foreign service. I am referring to Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba Góngora. On June 15, 2022, the chamber was finally opened in Mexico.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Mexico represents a unique opportunity to do business with the most important hub in the Arab world. Dubai is not only the Emirates, Dubai is the door to reach a large market made up of India and the South, from Asia, Africa and Central Asia, with a commercial capacity of 4 billion consumers and fertile land to do business, although it should be noted that it also represents a challenge for Mexico due to distances, which the representation of the Chamber is intended to help remedy.

Anyone aiming to internationalize their products or services, as well as anyone looking for a commercial or industrial partner to expand their company or simply to get to know the market has the opportunity to visit the representation and obtain first-hand and widely endorsed information.

Mexico, on the other hand, represents an opportunity for the Emiratis to explore and find investment opportunities, new markets and new businesses; however, they are very cautious in their investment decisions, which is why it will take time for them to adapt and establish a line of confidence to carry out such investments, but it will be worth it due to the investment potential and convenience for Mexican projects in development. The digital economy is a great attraction for them and many of these companies will surely benefit if they approach the representation.

The future between Mexico and the United Arab Emirates looks promising. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its office of global economic development, the Embassy of Mexico and the Ministry of Economy are working to ratify and promote commercial agreements that benefit and deeply promote business between the two countries. Proof of this is the increase in daily flights between the countries through Emirates Airlines.

On the other hand, there is an initiative from the Mexican Business Council to create the Mexican Business Council of Dubai, an entity that, with the approval of the Mexican Embassy and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, would bring together businessmen of Mexican origin who have a company registered in that city to be an official part of the organization of Dubai councils, where councils such as France and the United Kingdom are very active and effective in promoting entrepreneurs from their countries in the region.

Today Dubai is closer than ever, with the presence in Mexico of what was described as one of the most important and effective organizations on a global level in economic promotion.

More info: https://www.dubaichamber.com