Federal bill governing foreign investments in the country

Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Economy Sector Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy presided here today a meeting of the technical committee assigned to discuss the federal bill governing foreign investments in the country. The meeting was attended by representatives from 35 Federal and local bodies . Representatives from Cabinet's Office, Ministries of Finance and Industry, Environment and Water, Foreign affairs, Energy, Justice, Health and Labour were among the committee.The meeting held at the Ministry of Economy headquarters in Abu Dhabi was also attended by representatives from Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Tourism authorities, Free Trade zones, Departments of Planning and Development as well as law and economy experts.The meeting comes within the scope of Ministry of Economy's efforts, which heads the national program for improving the investment environment, to prepare a draft law in cooperation with concerned authorities. Abdullah Al Saleh said that the participation by a wide section of institutions was crucial in making the discussion more productive covering all aspects of the foreign investments in the country. According recent figures released by IMF the Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in UAE stood at USD12 billion in 2006. He also said that the basic elements included in the draft law will improve the investment environment, pave way for diversifying the economy, attract new technologies and streamline the best use of the natural resources."The basic factors which affect investment are the political stability, economic opportunities, infrastructure, stability of the financial and monetary systems and the legal framework that encourages foreign investment" said Al Saleh.He noted that this will be the first law governing foreign investment, and will contribute to the achievement of UAE's Federal Strategy of governance. Source