Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) was part of a delegation led by Mr. Rastislav Chovanec, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic in the UAE. Slovak business delegation consisted of 7 entrepreneurs, representative of Emirati Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, representatives of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, Slovak Ambassador to UAE Mr. Horniak and SARIO representative. The mission took place on 14. – 15. of March, 2016 and the goal was to introduce our entrepreneurs to the companies established in UAE in all different kind of sectors and to make the first contact and establish a successful business relationship via B2B meetings and matchmaking.During the first day of the mission we visited Ras Al Khaimah free trade zone. The program started with welcome notes from His Highness Ahmed bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of RAK Free Trade Zone and opening speech of H.E. Rastislav Chovanec, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic followed by presentations of RAK Free Trade Zone, RAK Tourism Development Authority and the Marjan Island project. Then SARIO representative Milos Barciak, Investment Projects Department Senior consultant at the beginning of his presentation introduced all entrepreneurs in the delegation, their main products and services. Second part of the presentation was dedicated to Slovak investment environment, pointing out TOP reason for investing in Slovakia such as strategic location, stabile economic and political environment, predictable currency EURO, skilled workforce and many others. The presentation also covered foreign trade between Slovakia and UAE showing the growing trend of cooperation in terms of stronger export to UAE year over year. The last part of presentation was about SARIO agency services, how Trade section can help to develop business cooperation between Slovak and UAE companies, our support of Slovak manufacturers in their export activities and assistance provided to foreign companies to identify potential new products for export from Slovakia. The investment section of SARIO provides consultancy for investment projects implementation and state aid, we manage our real estate database and mergers& acquisition database where some examples of M&A projects where presented.The program then continued with B2B meetings, our counterparts were 6-7 UAE companies offering mostly trade and consultancy services, logistics and finance services. After a short lunch we took a tour around the Marjan Island, a new tourist project. We also visited a technology park in Al Hamra and took the opportunity to see in person a plastic packaging company during production.The next day as scheduled we were invited to Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dubai. This business forum started with welcome remarks by H.E. Majid Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The Chairman of Dubai Chamber further stressed on the importance of coordinating efforts to work jointly in the areas of common interests while highlighting promising investment opportunities for Dubai companies in Slovakia and their counterparts in Dubai, especially in the areas of trade, health tourism, industry and information technology.H.E. Al Ghurair called upon Slovak companies to make Dubai their base for expansion into the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia as the emirate has a well-diversified and strong economy, built on solid foundations of creativity, knowledge and innovation, adding that its investment environment is marked by stability, modern infrastructure, effective economic policy and modern economic legislations.The Chairman of Dubai Chamber was followed by opening Speech by Mr. Rastislav Chovanec, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. Mr. Chovanec informed that this delegation visit leads to the start of a new chapter in the cooperation ties of the two countries which already have frequent high profile delegation exchanges leading to a larger cooperation this time. Afterwards Mr. Omar Khan, Director of International Offices, Dubai Chamber of Commerce &Industry presented Dubai’s economy in terms of their vision and outlook. The last presentation was provided by SARIO representative Milos Barciak introducing all entrepreneurs in the delegation, Slovak investment environment and foreign trade outlook and SARIO agency services. The content was similar to the one presented the previous day. Shortly after we were invited for a networking brunch and B2B sessions were we met with 7-8 UAE companies offering business consultancy, business set up and HR services, IT, logistic and finance services.
