Dubai business upbeat on Expo bid... 82% expect better times

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced that its Business Leaders' Survey for Q4-2013 is the highest in the history of the chamber as 82 per cent of business leaders expected improvements while only 2 per cent expected the opposite in the general business.

Some 16 per cent expected conditions to remain the same.

According to the survey, the overall business environment in Dubai has boosted the expectation and confidence of business leaders across the emirate in light of Dubai's improved chances of hosting Expo 2020.

The survey highlighted a highly positive net expectation score of 82 per cent stating that the overall positive expectations are triggered by the general sentiment caused by the bid which has received a very strong support from the private sector and Dubai companies. The winning of the bid by Dubai will be reflected on the entire region, they felt.

Likewise, business confidence in Q4-2013 is set to improve with a net expectation score of 63 per cent; with 67 per cent expecting business confidence to improve while 29 per cent expressed expectations for just similar level of prevailing business confidence and 4 per cent expecting worsening.

Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, said, "The factors contributing to the outlook for general business confidence are mainly based on the expectations of the ongoing preparations for hosting Dubai Expo 2020, greater domestic and global demand with the holiday season and influx of tourist arrivals when the weather becomes friendlier in the last quarter."

He added that other factors for the outlook included economic stability, market maturity and improved liquidity and the continued development of infrastructure and launches of more initiatives and projects by the government.

Buamim further added that the improved investor confidence which is the highest in the history of Dubai Chamber also comes from their trust in Dubai's business environment which gets a boost from the vision of its government who has been supporting major projects all along.

He also said that the strong synergy enjoyed by the public and private sectors and their joint backing for the Expo 2020 bid have also positively impacted the business leaders' expectations.

These positive percentages reflect the high confidence in the business environment in Dubai, as large businesses are more optimistic for the quarter, rating a net expectation scores for business conditions at 82 percent and for business confidence at 65 per cent; against the SMEs' respective net expectation scores of 78 per cent and 61 per cent.

The various factors expected to be most challenging to Q4-2013 operations were those directly affecting sales/revenues; with increasing competition being the most challenging; and those increasing costs, being most associated with the increasing rentals in Dubai. Among the financial factors, high cost of capital had been cited as most challenging.

The business leaders called for government intervention in controlling overhead costs and lengthening of employment visa as they feel that a two-year visa is seen as a deterrent to investing in personnel development and is a factor in raising the cost of hiring employees.

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