DIFC Week, the Dubai International Financial Centre's (DIFC) prestigious annual series of business conferences, concluded on Wednesday with industry leaders urging the GCC region to take advantage of the many opportunities that will emerge as conditions improve. The consensus among speakers at DIFC Week was that the region was better-resourced than most other parts of the world to weather the global slowdown. Over 500 international business leaders and policymakers from more than 30 countries in the GCC region and across the world met in Dubai to discuss the opportunities and critical challenges facing the region in the midst of the global economic crisis. Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and vice chairman of the UAE Central Bank, said: “Over the past four days we've seen a series of highly insightful discussions about business in the Middle East. We've covered a wide range of fundamental issues and heard many different perspectives, and what is clear is that the region is well positioned to deal with the current financial crisis and there will continue to be many opportunities for growth.” Central issues debated during the week included the vital role of family businesses in the economy and how the global financial crisis can be an opportunity for investments, Dubai's ability to meet its debt obligations, governments' responses to new pressures on financial markets, structuring the regulatory framework for Islamic finance, energy geopolitics, emerging markets in and after the financial crisis and how to get confidence back in the global financial markets. “The current financial crisis may provide several opportunities for family businesses to make investments both globally and regionally. In investing, family businesses should focus on good business value. As long as an investment is a good deal today, it will eventually bring good returns,” the DIFC governor said. “The global economic cycle will turn and when it turns, it will be a wise and good investment,” he pointed out. “The government can and will meet all its debt obligations going forward. Let there be no doubt about this fact,” Mohammed Alabbar, chairman, the Advisory Council, Government of Dubai and chairman, Emaar Properties, said. “We are rising to the challenge of managing the new economic realities. But our feet are firmly planted on the ground - and our eyes remain fixed on new horizons, on a future that remains bright. Here in Dubai, we are realists. And we are also optimists. We have risen to great challenges before, and we will rise to them again,” he added. __
