H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, today opened the third edition of the Sharjah FDI Forum.

The two-day forum is organised by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq, and Sharjah FDI Office, Invest in Sharjah and includes nine working sessions.

Under its theme ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution, the third edition of the annual event organised features a host of economic experts from the public and private sectors, examining the latest advances in technology, robotics and Artificial Intelligence, AI, and discussing how these are impacting on the regional and global investment landscape.

Starting the forum’s proceedings with an opening address, Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq, welcomed attendees and said, "We are gathered here today, in the Cultural Capital, to explore all that is related to The Fourth Industrial Revolution and all its dimensions and angles that allow visualising the future of the 21st century."

"The current extraordinary developments taking place because of The Fourth Industrial Revolution have forced our lives to change in drastic ways, and forced us as government entities to ready ourselves and integrate solutions in our services that allow us to witness and experience new economic opportunities, attracting more dynamic forms of investments from entrepreneurs, a sector that has enormously adapted to the growing changes in the digital industry," she added.

"Sharjah is an emirate that recognises the active role which entrepreneurship play in supporting and contributing to the emirates innovative, educational and sustainable economy. It was this recognition that Sheraa, Sharjah’s official entrepreneurship centre, launched its Sheraa Accelerator Programme to the international stage by inviting entrepreneurs from within the UAE, and across the globe, with its first phase witnessing ten innovative startups across sectors, such as the Blockchain technology and Virtual Reality," Sheikh Bodour continued.

"The Fourth Industrial Revolution also represents a great opportunity for the education sector, as it requires the workforce to possess different skills. This places Sharjah at the centre of these profound transformations due to the global educational infrastructure it maintains. The emirate is ready to play a significant role in the region to build up the potential in the school system and to cooperate and partner with the business community to benefit from the ongoing transformations in the world. The fact that we were awarded the title World Book Capital 2019 from UNESCO is proof in our belief in supporting culture and education and the importance of their role in human and community development," she added.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, followed Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi’s speech with a keynote address that highlighted Sharjah’s resilience, its ability to attract foreign direct investment and the emirate’s significant contribution to the UAE’s economy.

"Sharjah is playing a key role in the sustainable development of the UAE and has attracted major FDI inflows, with this figure in 2015 standing at 38 percent of the UAE’s total. Despite a small slowdown in 2016, it was still able to attract a total of US$1.7 trillion this year. Our policies are now looking at attracting foreign direct investment in particular areas to help create a knowledge-based economy and ensure sustainability."

"We are stimulating investment in renewable energy, transportation, SMEs, tourism and the aerospace sectors, with technology specific areas including the Internet of Things, Cloud computing, Big Data and 3D printing. These policies have made the UAE the 12th most attractive global destination in 2017, according to UNCTAD," he concluded.