Dubai brings financial ties with China to a higher level

Government representative highlights infrastructure, green energy as key areas

Dubai is looking to further financial and technology cooperation with China in areas including infrastructure development and clean energy, a top adviser to the Dubai government said on Friday.

"Dubai's economy has become much healthier than during the credit crunch of 2008, and growth is now on a promising path," said Hani Rashid al Hamli, secretary-general of the Dubai Economic Council.

In 2012, Dubai saw its foreign direct investment surge 26.5 percent from the year before, and there might be a larger share of that coming from China.

In an interview with China Daily, al Hamli said a strategic partnership was signed in Beijing last week between DEC and the China Development Bank.

The dialogue between the two started in 2011, "and now we can take that to the next level", he added.

After signing the partnership, "the platform (between DEC and CDB) will be more open, in shared knowledge and economic dialogue", he said.

The DEC comprises leading businessmen and officials representing the most vital sectors of the emirate's economy, and it has played a major role in supporting Dubai government's economic policy decision-making.

Al Hamli noted that the two sides had discussed the setting up of possible projects including those involving aviation, tourism, and infrastructure, and the projects were not restricted to Dubai itself.

According to al Hamli, CDB is interested in being involved in the financing of projects, including roads to airport and other infrastructure construction in Dubai.

He also had meetings with the China Communication and Construction Co, a leading State-owned construction company, during his visit to Beijng, al Hamli said.

As a city applying to host the 2020 World Expo, he said Dubai is expecting Chinese companies to play a greater part in infrastructure construction in the city.

He added Dubai had a "full range" of cooperation opportunities for Chinese investors, including those involved in financing, operations and construction.

"Dubai can serve as a gateway for Chinese companies to the world, especially to African markets.

"We can take Chinese companies beyond Dubai and the UAE, to areas where our companies operate," he said.

He said a couple of projects had been discussed with CDB, but that both were still at the planning stage.

Dubai and Beijing have one thing in common - an urgency to protect their fragile environmental systems.

To this end, cooperation will also be sought on energy-related projects, particularly solar projects.

Even with the world's third-largest oil reserves in its backyard, Dubai announced its own "green initiatives" two years ago, and has been building low-carbon buildings.

Dubai is expecting both capital and technology from Chinese investors in the clean energy field, added al Hamli.