From December 20 to 22, 2021, a working visit of SIC Group USA LLC and the Ukrainian Association of GR professionals and lobbyists to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) took place.

During the visit, representatives of the largest association of GR specialists in Ukraine managed to visit EXPO 2020 – the World Exhibition of the main achievements of more than 190 states, where the representatives of the delegation supported the first pavilion of Ukraine – Smart Ukraine: Connecting Dots (Smart Ukraine: connection points).

Kateryna Odarchenko, partner of SIC Group, initiated the delegation’s visit to Dubai, UAE. A specialist in the field of public administration is deeply convinced of the need to exchange experience between Ukraine and countries that have achieved significant success in establishing a dialogue between government agencies, business structures, and society:

“One of the secrets of the qualitative and structured development of the economic and infrastructure policy of the UAE is the construction and implementation of development strategies in the UAE. The well-established mechanism of work between the government and business sectors is also quite important, which confirms the high level of development of “Public-Private partnerships” – the key to a transparent dialogue between the state and, in particular, business.”

The importance of GR development was confirmed by several unique working meetings with leading international Arab experts in the fields of energy, investment, economics GR, PR, lobbying, and business, including:

Abdullah Aljefri – a well-known Arab lawyer, a specialist in public administration; and founder of the region’s largest Arabic e-learning system NajahTrain. As an influential human rights activist in the UAE, Mr. Algefri focused on the importance of building a development strategy for the state for its success not only in the economic, energy, and other vectors of public policy but also the development of interaction, building a high-quality dialogue between the state and entrepreneurs, which will contribute to the implementation of the strategy of the state development. , development of the private sector of the economy, and increase its contribution to the development of the country.

Obaid Al Shufeihi and Kateryna Odarchenko

Obaid Al Shufeihi, GR-Director at BloomHolding, a leading premium real estate company, a specialist in investment and agricultural policy in the UAE, focused on the relationship between infrastructure development, investment, and the growth of the state economy.

Mr. Al Shufeihi noted: “The Sovereign Investment Partnership, gaining momentum in Dubai and across the UAE, has a positive impact on financial support and innovation in infrastructure. This will help not only to build a stable and profitable market for entrepreneurs but also to build a high-quality economic growth of the state.”

Of particular note is the meeting of the delegation of the Ukrainian Association of GR professionals and lobbyists with representatives of the private office of His Royal Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Faisal Al-Qassimi, a member of the ruling family of Sharjah, namely: His Majesty Tomasz Zaleski, Dunston Pereira, Salwa Abdulaziz Zayn.

As part of the working meeting, the special system of values ​​of the UAE for him was discussed. His Majesty Tomasz Zaleski, Head of the Private Office, noted that the alignment of business with the ideas of sustainable development, environmental friendliness of doing business, job creation, a deep idea – all this is the only guarantee of business success in the UAE. Nevertheless, his connection with the authorities of the state is also quite important, as this helps to realize two goals at the same time: firstly, to promote business products to the national, as well as to the international market; secondly, to increase the level of the economy by promoting the development of the private business sector of the UAE.

The delegation of SIC Group also met with representatives of the Dubai Municipality and directly with its subdivision – the Department of Food Safety. The meeting was chaired by government representative Mohammed Ahmed Abdulmajida, a specialist with many years of experience in improving food safety through the development of integrated food safety systems, as well as unified import control procedures.

Mohammed Ahmed Abdulmajida – Representative of the Department of Dubai Municipality – Department of Food Safety

            Delegation of SIC Group at a meeting with the Department of Food Safety (Dubai Municipality)

The Dubai Municipality advised Ukraine to focus on deepening cooperation with the UAE in this area, including the re-export of products to other countries. This will help to raise the economic level and consolidate it profitably in the international market.

            Food Safety Department (Dubai Municipality) statistics on total food imports as of December 31, 2020

During the EXPO, a meeting was held with the PR Director at AsterDMHealthcare, one of the largest conglomerates in the field of healthcare services in the MENA countries (the Middle East and North Africa region). Ms. Mandal has extensive experience in the most famous PR companies, including, in particular, the Ogilvy marketing agency and the Edelman consulting company.

A meeting with representatives of the investment company Bowline, which is part of the AlTayerGroup business holding, one of the largest in the UAE with more than 40 years of experience, which cooperates with 6 countries of the Middle East, deserves attention. Representing the investment company, its CEO, Munter Muheizenom, is an experienced specialist in building and expanding business in the UAE through Government Regulations. This confirms his valuable experience in the Dubai Executive Council. Also present at the meeting was Intisar Ul Hassan Alvi, the CFO of Bowline with over 20 years of experience in all aspects of corporate finance, as well as investment banking, leasing, financial advisory, and more.

As part of the working visit, the delegation had the honor to meet with Javad Raja, a well-known Pakistani entrepreneur with over 43 years of experience in the field of trade. Also, Mr. Raja is one of the co-owners of the AVTChannelsNetwork network, which owns and operates 4 TV channels “AVTKhyber”, “KhyberNews” and “Kay2”, “KhyberMiddleEastTV” – the first TV channels in the UAE in the Pashta language, which is widely used in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries. Mr. Raja is deeply convinced of the relevance of using the media sphere as one of the key platforms for influencing the development of the cultural segment, and preserving traditions and customs.

Seema Adebrudo has over 20 years of experience in public policy, technology, education, healthcare, and international politics. He currently works in digital strategy, nonprofits, negotiation, government, and international relations.

Taking into account the rich experience of working as a consultant in Public Policy in a number of countries, the eastern specialist advised Ukraine to start with the implementation of small goals when adopting new reforms. It is the practice and consequences of the work that will have an impact on the lives of people from the regions that are the measure of the success of public policy.

As part of the working visit, a working meeting was also held with Malek Kassam, Director of Corporate Services at CVML Limited, one of the leading law firms in Dubai, UAE. Among the company’s clients are specialists from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Among the main services provided by CVML Limited are dispute resolution, franchising, distribution and retail, taxes, real estate, intellectual property, asset tracing and law enforcement, and corporate relations.

Also noteworthy is the meeting with Falvel Manzano, a Filipino investment specialist, and an experienced expert in the field of marketing and real estate. The oriental specialist manages more than 1000 employees in a number of countries in Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle East, as part of the international corporation FRM Prime Realty Corporation. The Ukrainian delegation managed to discuss the state of real estate development in Ukraine.

The meeting with Ferozkhan Shanavas, President, and CEO of Dravida Petroleum DMCC, a successful integrated oil and gas company specializing in oil exploration and production in the Middle East, was also interesting. Mr. Shanavas is an oil and gas strategist in the Middle East. The competence of a specialist with many years of experience includes oil geology, reservoir engineering, production technology, technical and economic assessment of oil and gas assets, and business development in this area. The topic of discussion was the need to increase the domestic production of natural gas, oil, and uranium, as well as to improve the technologies for their sale.

As part of a series of unique working meetings, the Ukrainian delegation had the honor to meet with Saeed Hareb Al Darmaki, an influential Arab specialist in the field of cryptocurrencies, De-Fi, a fintech, managing director of CasperLabs, whose work is focused on the development of blockchain, covering North Africa and the Middle East.

Mr. Al Darmaki is the founder of a number of funds and organizations specializing in crypto-services, including AlphabitFund, “TeraBlock” and “SheeshaFinance” and others. As part of a business conversation, the increase in the influence of cryptocurrencies in the market was discussed, Timur Chmeruk, an influential expert in the field of investments, focused on the powerful influence of individual tools on the development of the new economy:

“I believe that cryptocurrencies and blockchain are a prerequisite for the emergence of a completely new socio-economic formation, by virtue of which it will change the processes of interaction between the main subjects and become one of the key sectors of neo-economics.”

The visit of the Ukrainian Association of GR professionals and lobbyists was supported by the well-known Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Kozyuk, whose works were highly appreciated by Arab specialists.