ORGANIZERS of the forthcoming Sharjah FDI Forum 2016 under the generous patronage of Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and to be hosted by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) in collaboration with Financial Times and fDi magazine, have highlighted the importance of the event to throw light on foreign direct investment and the global economy. Taking place on Sept. 28-29, 2016, the two-day Sharjah FDI Forum will bring together an elite group of experts and economists to highlight key investment trends in the region. "The Sharjah FDI Forum will examine the most important economic issues on the local, regional and international arenas. The forum will host the participation of senior economists, financial analysts and policy makers, who will meet to discuss seek solutions to the foreign direct investment challenges presented by the current economic climate," said Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Shurooq. Day one of the Sharjah FDI Forum will see Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Waha Capital, present ‘Taking the Long-Term View on Middle East investments,' in which he, and Courtney Fingar, Editor in Chief, fDi Magazine, Financial Times, will both outline the investment structure in the region and its attractiveness for international capital. The second day of the forum will host a panel discussion ‘Investment trends – What Are the Prospects for FDI in the Middle East and the UAE in the Coming Year?' Its participants, which include Marwan Bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), Henry Loewendahl, Group CEO, WAVTEQ Limited, Awni Rushood, Advisor, Arab Planning Institute Kuwait and Jeffrey Colyer, Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, will each discuss the role of FDI in the world economy, evaluate growth trends and challenges, and analyze the competitive advantages of cities when it comes to the globalization of innovation. This panel discussion is scheduled to be moderated by Jacopo Dettoni, Deputy Editor, fDi Magazine, Financial Times. According to the annual world investment report released by the UN Conference on Trade and Investment (UNCTAD), global FDI will reach $1.5 trillion (AED5.5 trillion) in 2016, and $1.7 trillion (AED6.24 trillion) in 2017. The organizers of the Sharjah FDI Forum say that the projected growth in global investment inflows makes the annual conference an important date on the global financial calendar. "Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the global economy has experienced economic fluctuations that have resulted in a host of exceptional challenges. These have affected the inflow of global foreign direct investment, changed safe havens and raised the risk ratios in cross-border capital flow to unprecedented proportions," added Al Sarkal.
