The SheTrades Mauritius Hub operating under the aegis of the Economic Development Board (EDB) organised a Webinar on Unlocking Opportunities for the UAE Market on Thursday 21st November 2024. The event brought together 20 women-led businesses from various sectors, including ICT, consultancy, handicrafts, and food processing. The webinar was organized in collaboration with SheTrades MENA Hub and the International Trade Centre (ITC). The webinar provided participants with valuable insights and a deeper understanding of how to successfully enter the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market.
In her welcome remarks Mrs. Nirmala Jeetah, Director of Bio Industry & Project Development, ITC SheTrades at the EDB emphasized on the importance of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a trading partner for Mauritius. In 2023, the total trade volume between Mauritius and the UAE reached USD 895 million, with exports from Mauritius amounting to USD 253 million and imports from the UAE totaling USD 642 million. She stated “With a view to further strengthen bilateral relations between UAE and Mauritius, both countries have signed a Preferential Trade Agreement – The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement – CEPA on 22nd July 2024.The CEPA with the UAE marks a significant milestone in the economic relations between Mauritius and the UAE, opening avenues for further development in merchandise trade, trade in services, investments, bilateral and regional supply chains and distribution channels, technology transfer, economic cooperation, and professional mobility.”
In his welcome remarks, Mr Tanvir Ahmad, Senior Advisor – SheTrades Hubs of Asia at the International Trade Centre (ITC), emphasized on the significant role played by SheTrades and the plethora of opportunities available under the SheTrades platform. He pointed out that the ITC’s SME Trade Academy is offering a wide range of e-learning courses taught by recognized experts in a variety of subjects relevant to both trade support and upskilling of entrepreneurs. Mr Ahmad also highlighted the importance of ITC’s Trade and Market Intelligence tools that can be used for market analysis. It is a series of innovative online tools to make global trade more transparent and facilitate market access. These tools allow trade actors to examine trade statistics, tariffs, official market access regulations and company contacts in potential markets. Additionally, Mr. Ahmad expressed his satisfaction with the successful organization of the virtual B2B meetings, which provide an excellent platform for fostering business connections and opportunities.
Ms. Phyllis Mwangi, Senior Advisor – SheTrades Hubs in Eastern and Southern Africa at the International Trade Centre, in her opening remarks stated that she welcomed this initiative of Virtual B2B Meetings and is delighted to see that this initiative is being extended to the African continent. She encouraged the participants to grab this opportunity and learn more on how to tap into the UAE market Ms. Mwangi also highlighted the importance of inter hub activities, a series of such events are happening within the African region notably between Mauritius Hub, Kenya Hub, Rwanda Hub, Ghana Hub and South Africa Hub. Inter hub activities provide enormous benefits such as peer-to-peer learning, networking, tapping on emerging opportunities like joint-ventures / business partners with the ultimate objective of increasing production and market share of women-led businesses. She therefore urged women entrepreneurs to join the SheTrades Family.
The presentation on ‘Exporting to the UAE and GCC Market’ was delivered by Dr Ashraf Ali Mahate, Chief Economist from the Trade and Economic Development for Dubai Department of Economy. Dr Mahate has over 30 years of enriching experience in the areas of international trade, export promotion, inward investment attraction and entrepreneurship. In his current capacity, Dr. Mahate leads the strategic economic policy development to senior government and private sector decision makers that promotes a structured augmentation in trade, inward investment and entrepreneurship within the wider policy objectives of economic growth, diversification and economic development. It was a full-fledged presentation which covered the following areas:
- Consumer and industry trends – exploring the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) / UAE Market
- UAE/GCC Consumer Market
- Assessing your product or service
- How to export to UAE
- Rules and regulations
- Norms to enter the UAE market
- Opportunities and challenges
- Tips for first-time B2B meetings
The session was highly interactive and provided Mauritian women-led businesses with valuable opportunities to learn about the UAE market. The Q&A segment served as an excellent platform for participants to gain deeper insights into the operational aspects of entering the UAE market, which has proven to be an attractive and promising market to explore.
Women economic empowerment plays a key role in our economic development and in this endeavor the SheTrades Mauritius Hub is providing the necessary support to upskill and provide market access to women entrepreneurs. At the heart of SheTrades Mauritius’ mission lies the internationalization of women-led enterprises, more information is available on our website.
A series of activities have been devised under the SheTrades Mauritius Hub and to benefit from these programs please register on SheTrades Mauritius Platform by clicking here: https://forms.edbmauritius.org/cn/al935/STregister.
