UAE elected chair of Kimberley Process 2016

ABU DHABI, 25th May 2016 (WAM) --- Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, yesterday said the UAE will use its new role as chair of the Kimberley Process for 2016 to highlight and enhance its efforts to facilitate global trade and commercial ethics. He was speaking at the Kimberly Process Intersessional 2016 held at the Atlantis Hotel the Palm in Dubai. In 2003, the UAE became the first Arab nation to join the Kimberley Process. The Kimberley Process started when Southern African diamond-producing states met in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000, to discuss ways to stop the trade in ‘conflict diamonds' and ensure that diamond purchases were not financing violence by rebel movements and their allies seeking to undermine legitimate governments. "The UAE has long been recognised as a globally important hub for trade. For centuries, our great nation has been a trading post on the busy silk and spice routes from China in the East to the West," he said. Today, he added, these routes are experiencing significant structural change as we see the flow of goods changing course to meet the needs of developing nations across the African and Asian regions, where new cities and centres of consumption emerge almost daily. Amidst all this change, the UAE remains strong, resilient to the rigors of the global economic climate, flexible to the needs of our trading partners and, above all, prepared for any future that we may face, according to Al Mansouri. He added, "It is this ethos that has further driven the UAE’s determination to diversify its economy beyond hydrocarbons and into many complementary sectors. We have built successful economic sectors around the financial services, transports, tourism, industry, trade. And in 2015 introduce innovation as a tool to expedite diversification. "The UAE Economy has proven to be among the strongest economies regionally and the most promising globally," Al Mansouri said. He added that over the past ten years, the UAE economy has maintained high growth rates averaging 5.5%, confirming its strength through a very challenging period. "Thanks to the UAE’s wise leadership and their efforts to diversify the economy and reduce its dependence on oil, which fall in line with the UAE Vision 2021 and the national agenda, the contribution of non-oil sectors to the national economy has reached around 70%, leaving only 30% to the oil sector." Nevertheless, the Minister Al Mansouri said, oil continues to remain important to the UAE. We have so far made significant strides in a number of sectors and plan to lower the contribution of oil to the GDP to less than 20% by the year 2021. The following is the full text of the speech delivered by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, Kimberley Process conference in Dubai, on 24th May 2016. "Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning and thank you for joining us here today as we proudly welcome the member countries and participants in the Kimberley Process to the UAE, and to this nation’s first intersessional as chair of the event. We are deeply honoured to have been selected as chair of the Kimberley Process for 2016 and we would like to take this opportunity to thank each member and participant for their support in our election, and for their partnership in all the important work that we will be undertaking during our tenure. Ladies and gentlemen, The UAE has long been recognised as a globally important hub for trade. For centuries, our great nation has been a trading post on the busy silk and spice routes from China in the East to the West. Today, these routes are experiencing significant structural change as we see the flow of goods changing course to meet the needs of developing nations across the African and Asian regions, where new cities and centres of consumption emerge almost daily. Amidst all this change, the UAE remains strong, resilient to the rigors of the global economic climate, flexible to the needs of our trading partners and, above all, prepared for any future that we may face. It is this ethos that has further driven the UAE’s determination to diversify its economy beyond hydrocarbons and into many complementary sectors. We have built successful economic sectors around the financial services, transports, tourism, industry, trade. And in 2015 introduce innovation as a tool to expedite diversification. The UAE Economy has proven to be among the strongest economies regionally and the most promising globally. Over the past ten years, our economy has maintained high growth rates averaging 5.5%, confirming its strength through a very challenging period. We also recognise that the current fall in oil prices poses a great challenge to all oil exporting countries and the UAE is no exception. Thanks to the UAE’s wise leadership and their efforts to diversify the economy and reduce its dependence on oil, which fall in line with the UAE Vision 2021 and the national agenda, the contribution of non-oil sectors to the national economy has reached around 70%, leaving only 30% to the oil sector. Nevertheless, oil continues to remain important to the UAE. We have so far made significant strides in a number of sectors and plan to lower the contribution of oil to the GDP to less than 20% by the year 2021. We also believe that the move away from oil dependency will further protect the country from the negative impact of the volatility of oil prices in international markets. All indicators currently confirm the stability of the UAE economy and its potential to thrive even as our country becomes a major economic centre for the region and an international maritime and aviation hub that connects the East to the West, and north with the south. We attribute the successes we are experiencing as an outcome to number of integrating factors such political stability, security, advanced infrastructure, and an enabling legislative environment, as well as openness to the world. All these factors have made our country a desired destination for businesses and have helped the UAE build the second largest economy in the Arab world as a GDP value of USD450 billion achieving truly remarkable growth rates. Dubai and its DMCC (the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) are vital centres in the UAE’s trade economy with commodities such as gold and diamonds featuring at the top of our list of contributors to GDP. And this is one of the principle reasons why the trade in diamonds, and our chairmanship of the Kimberley Process, are so important to us as a nation. In 2003, the UAE became the first Arab nation to join the Kimberley Process. Since then, the Dubai diamond trade, under the support of the Dubai Diamond Exchange and DMCC, has grown at a significant rate and has consolidated our position as one of the leading diamond trading hubs globally. Last year, even though prices of diamonds faced challenging market conditions, The UAE imported USD12.4 billion worth of rough diamonds and re-exported USD13.2 billion worth, giving the UAE rough diamond trade a total value of USD25.6 billion in 2015. It is this sort of contribution from an important facet of the commodities trade, through the specialist facilities of the DMCC Free Zone, that gives us the assurance that the UAE will meet its goals of economic diversity and more. Ladies and gentlemen, Trade is about much more than the simple exchange of goods. As all of us here today know, trade is about building and fostering relations. Trade is about forging prosperity from opportunity, together with our partners. Participating in the Kimberley Process has brought us closer to many of our trading partners around the world, particularly those in Africa – the source of so much of the mineral wealth we trade. And as we share in the fruits of this trade, we also share in the responsibility to the people and places that enable us to realise these benefits. It is deeply rooted in our belief as an Arab and Muslim nation, that it is our primary duty to help those in need and make the world a better place. In 2014, the UAE became the world’s top humanitarian donor offering USD6.16 billion in foreign aid that year--reaching communities in more than 140 countries across the globe. That is almost double of the target set by the United Nations for donor countries. These achievements were only made possible thanks to governmental and non-governmental bodies dedicated to alleviating suffering and promoting development around the world. In Africa alone, the UAE has invested more than USD5 billion in infrastructure projects across the continent. We are also home to the International Humanitarian City (IHC), a Dubai-based logistics centre that hosts more than 50 non-governmental organisations, among them the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which are all involved in the delivery of aid during crises and for long-term development purposes. The UAE also pledged USD120 million to support polio eradication efforts, working in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to promote distribution of vaccines. Our work with the Kimberley Process for the past 13 years has brought us so much closer to all of our partners in some of the most vulnerable corners of the globe and has deepened our relationship with them considerably. Ladies and gentlemen, The Kimberley Process is a global body that strives to enable trade to flourish in a safe and stable environment so that all participants and their dependent societies can benefit to the full. And this is why we believe it is so fitting that the UAE has built so many strong and lasting partnerships within this vital institution. In the UAE, our doors are always open to friends and partners from every corner of the globe, from every walk of life, as we strive to reach a common goal together. That common goal is prosperity and growth. To make sure we reach those goals, the UAE provides the stability, the infrastructure, the policy, the platforms and the places where trade flourishes like nowhere else on earth. And that is why the UAE, together with our partners, many of whom are here with us today, is the future of trade. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395295882380.html