As part of its initiative to strengthen bilateral ties between Dubai and the US, a high profile delegation of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry recently visited Los Angeles and Las Vegas to explore new prospects for Dubai's business community in the US and to enhance cooperation with the major American chambers of commerce. Headed by Eng Hamad Buamim, director general, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), the delegation met a number of top officials of the US Department of Commerce and major American chambers including Stephen Recobs and Vidya Kori of the US Department of Commerce; Joseph Czyzyjk, vice-chairman and Gary Toebben, president and CEO of LA Chamber of Commerce; Lori Lofstrom, chairman, and Randy Gordon, president and CEO of Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce; and Kara Kelly, president and CEO of Las Vegas They also met Karen Chupka, senior vice president, Events and Conferences and John Kelly, international marketing manager, Consumer Electronic Association (CEA), organizers of the world's largest Consumer Electronic Show held in Las Vegas and discussed the exhibition industry in Dubai and outbound missions to potential US markets, especially the Consumer Electronic Show for the year 2011 and looked into the possibility of holding a CES event in the Emirate. The business trip which took the DCCI officials mainly to Los Angeles - one of the world's strongest economies and the largest city in California - provided the Chamber officials with the opportunity to study the best business practices adopted by the LA Chamber and to highlight the investment opportunities available in the emirates. The officials also discussed entering into a twin city relationship with Los Angeles as the trip also helped in the Chamber's continuous drive to open doors for its members into the US market. As part of its strategy to explore new markets for its members and to activate channels of communications with top chambers of the world, DCCI's focus this time fell on Los Angeles which is the second largest city in the US and is known for its best business practices. A special DCCI study released recently indicated that the total imports of US from the UAE for the first nine months of 2009, valued at $1.3 billion, represented a jump of 24 percent from the previous year's value of $1.0 billion. With exports declining by 12 percent, from $10.0 to $8.8 billion during the same period, balance of trade declined by 15 percent to $7.6 billion. The study further revealed that the main reason for the sharp increase was the spike in petroleum imports of US from the UAE in July. From an average monthly value of just over $100 million, US imports from UAE in July 2009 reached a record high of $360 million, for a year-on-year growth of 78 percent. The figure also shows that the third quarter is a peak period for US import from the UAE. In addition to this, the year-on-year growth for the third quarter of 2009 was significant at 43 percent despite the economic crisis that had been gripping the two countries. Petroleum accounted for 58 percent of US imports from the UAE during the first 9 months of 2009, up from only 21 percent for corresponding period in 2008. When imports peaked in July 2009, 82 percent of the total imports consisted of petroleum oil, valued at $298 million. It appears then, that the peaks noted in quarter three months, could be attributed to increased imports of petroleum crude oil products. US imports of petroleum and fuel generally increase in the summer months as the country stockpiles its reserves for the increased demand in winter. This explains the peaks in US imports from the UAE in the 3rd quarter, followed by slumps in the 4th quarter. However, that US imports of petroleum in the first eight months of the year dropped significantly in 2009. Although part of the decline could be attributed to the decline in world prices of oil in 2009, from the peak levels a year ago, it could still be noted that compare to the same periods in 2006 and 2007, the 2009 level was still much lower. US imports of petroleum in the first nine months of 2006 amounted to $344.0 billion, increasing by 9 percent to $376.1 billion in the following year. High prices and large demand in 2008 pushed import bill by 26 percent to $550.8 billion. The $200.5 billion imports in 2009 marked a 152 percent decline. Buamim maintained that Dubai and the US enjoy excellent economic relations as the country ranked third on the list of Dubai's top trading partners with the value of exports and re-exports of the Chamber's members to US touching AED5.74 billion at the end of 2008. He informed that there are 1,034 US partnership companies including 102 US-owned firms operating in Dubai, which confirms the strong trading relationship that exist between the two sides. Although US plays a major role in the development of UAE's oil industry, US imports of petroleum from UAE is very small. The significant jump in US imports of the product from UAE in July increased the share from barely 1 percent to about 4 percent, and led to a 243 percent year-on-year increase in imports of petroleum from the UAE during the first nine months of 2008. Meanwhile, Saudi investment in Dubai Financial Market dropped 65 percent in 2009 after 189 Saudi traders withdrew from the exchange, a Saudi daily reported Saturday. Saudi transactions in Dubai fell to AED10.3 billion ($2.7 billion) in 2009 from AED16 billion in 2008.
