Finnish Business Council UAE Newsletter

                 Katia Boutou           

Dear Members, Corporate Members and Other Steak Holders,

Welcome back from Summer Holidays to an exciting and informative filled season for 2018-2019.  

As Finland has “softly” announced their participation to attend the Expo 2020 Dubai, FBC will have a busy year ahead to attend, follow and to share all the available information with those, that would like to participate to Expo related events. This will be a unique opportunity for Finnish companies to showcase their know-how and expertise on main themes of the Expo “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. (Already sounds very much like “Nokia” to me).

Another outlook for this year will be the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There are many developments under way in the young nation of 22 Million people, and their need for importing is great and changes are indeed fast. As an example, the City of Neom (www.neom.com) where development are aimed to be among the most advanced city in the world, as it has been quoted it is the “Dubai on Steroids”. It will be fully digitized, automated and sustainable smart city and Finland has definitely such expertise. Once tourism visa are issued, travelling to Saudi Arabia will become more convenient and opportunities will flourish, however for these opportunities we must act fast.

Moreover, and of course we are not forgetting, the current changes UAE is experiencing VAT, GDPR, changes in tourism visa policies, property and business ownership changes etc... for these topics we have already created events together with other Scandinavian Business Councils. This calendar is available on our website http://www.fbcuae.fi.

I would like to use the words of the Ruler of  Dubai  His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as said in support of the Expo 2020 winning bid: 
"In today’s highly interconnected world, a renewed vision of progress and development based on shared purpose and commitment is key. While a married human mind, an individual country, or a specific community is both unique and remarkable, it is by working collaboratively that we truly advance."

II hope, that this year all the entities, institutions and individuals will embrace these words so we can all make this business year of 2018/ 2019 the most successful yet to date.

Katja Boutou

Chairman of Finnish Business Council UAE

Read the newsletter here:
http://newsletter.fbcuae.fi/a/s/56323570-3a596a12f0bcbb30161421f4eadd1afd/2688966