Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy, and Michael Punke, Vice President of Public Policy at Amazon Web Services, held discussions on developing co-operation frameworks and enhancing Amazon's contribution to strategic digital transformation plans in Dubai and the UAE. Held in the presence of Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, the discussions also included prospects for strategic co-operation in leveraging Dubai's strengths as a global business hub to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. The meeting and discussions were part of a five-year long partnership during which Dubai Economy had an instrumental role in Amazon choosing Dubai as its operations hub in the Middle East and North Africa to consolidate relations with major international companies. The move followed Dubai FDI, the investment development agency of Dubai Economy, visiting Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, USA, in early 2016. The visit came in the context of the National Innovation Strategy, the Smart Dubai Initiative, and other projects launched by Dubai Economy and its agencies to keep pace with innovations in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, and blockchain, as part of making Dubai the smartest city in the world. During the meeting Al Qamzi mentioned digital infrastructure as one of the best investment models of significant impact to Dubai, adding that cloud computing can accelerate the development of businesses and services as well as enhance efficiency and productivity in the emirate and across the region. Al Qamzi added: "This meeting comes within the framework of our commitment to the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 and aims to consolidate the outcomes of our first visit to Amazon in 2016 through further co-operation. The visit led to the opening of the Amazon Web Services' regional headquarters in Dubai the same year. On this occasion, we would like to emphasise our continuous support for Amazon's activities and expansion in Dubai and the UAE." Michael Punke commented: "Amazon Web Services' investments around the world contribute directly to supporting sustainable economic development. Cloud computing services play an important role in enabling digital transformation, enhancing competitiveness and productivity of small- and medium-sized companies, and supporting a new generation of young people to enable them to contribute to economic development and participate in making the future through entrepreneurship and innovation." During the meeting, Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, reviewed Dubai's most important developments in the investment environment and highlighted the initiatives and programmes undertaken by the agency to support and facilitate the growth and expansion of international companies in the Emirate. Al Gergawi added: "In order to implement the directives of our leadership and support the UAE's readiness for the next 50 years, we will continue to enhance strategic relations with international companies that have based their regional operations in Dubai. It will enable us to share experiences and develop skills using the latest technologies that can also accelerate the digital transformation of our services." The cloud computing system provided by Amazon Web Services is the most comprehensive and reliable cloud infrastructure in the world, providing more than 175 distinct services entirely from global data centers. Millions of customers use the service, including fast-growing start-ups as well as the largest corporations and leading government agencies, to help reduce costs, increase resilience, and innovate faster. Cloud computing delivers on-demand IT resources online and offers pricing modules based on usage. It is fast, flexible, cost-effective, and publishes globally within minutes. Rather than purchasing, owning, and maintaining actual data centers, technology services can be benefitted from, such as computing, storage, and database capabilities, depending on individual business needs through a cloud service provider like Amazon Web Services. — SG
