Lexington, KY - Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President Dave Adkisson and Commerce Lexington President Bob Quick joined more than 40 other commerce executives from metro areas across the country on a six-day excursion to Dubai earlier this month. The trip, which was hosted and paid for by Dubai's Chamber of Commerce and organized through the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), was aimed at building closer trade and cultural ties with Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"They've invited us because they want to promote trade between American cities and Dubai," said Adkisson, who serves as chairman for the ACCE, prior to departing for the trip.
In addition to touring Dubai's 80-acre Emirates Equestrian Centre and local attractions such as Ski Dubai (the world's third-largest indoor ski resort, built inside Dubai Emirates Mall in 2005), the chamber executives were introduced to top trade officials in Dubai, which serves as a critical hub for business and commerce in the region. The group's itinerary for the week included visits to a variety of commercial, financial and academic entities.
"Dubai is more than Dubai," Adkisson said. "It's really a portal by which people do business in the Middle East. It's a business-friendly center for that whole part of the world, especially for financial firms and trading firms."
American exports to the UAE have grown significantly over the past ten years, from $2.7 billion in 1999 to $15.7 billion in 2008. Kentucky's trade with the UAE has more than tripled during that time as well, growing from $67 million in 1999 to $210 million in 2008, according to a report from the Trade and Commercialization Office of the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C. Kentucky is currently ranked as the 18th- largest merchandise exporter to the UAE among all U.S. states, and the UAE is Kentucky's 22nd-largest export market.
Historically, Kentucky's largest export to the UAE had been horses, with sales averaging $56 million between 1999 and 2006. In 2007, however, Kentucky automobile exports to the UAE surpassed horses, with Kentucky shipping roughly $80 million of cars to the UAE in 2008.
One goal of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in organizing this trip was to develop strategic partnerships with cities across the country that specialize in key industry sectors, such as health care and manufacturing, Adkisson said.
Given the nature of Kentucky's top export products sold to the UAE, central Kentucky in particular has captured the lion's share of the state's export business to the UAE in the past. Quick attributes that to the many close connections that have developed over the years through the equine industry, including the central Kentucky investments of Dubai leaders such as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vice president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai, who met with the trade delegation at Za'abeel Palace during its visit. Sheikh Mohammed took the opportunity to discuss current economic conditions in the region and around the world with the American chamber representatives, in addition to addressing educational and humanitarian concerns for the world's least-developed countries.
"It's just shocking, the depths of our connections to Dubai," said Quick, who was making his first trip to the emirate. "Every time I turned around (while preparing for this trip), somebody knew somebody in Dubai."
Quick said trade and cultural missions like the recent Dubai trip are aimed at building upon those relationships, to strengthen existing bonds and possibly extend opportunities to other local businesses that might be looking to make some headway in the export market.
"It's all about relationships - under-standing their needs and helping them make that connection with us," Quick said. "People prefer to do business with those they know and trust. For Lexington, continuing to grow our relationship with Dubai's leaders is critical, based on our exports to them and their investments in central Kentucky."
Despite the current recession in the United States and the financial setbacks experienced by Dubai in the past year, the effort to lay the foundation for closer trade relations now will keep the door open for global trade in more prosperous times to come, Adkisson said.
"We will all bounce back and trade will accelerate," Adkisson said. "And Dubai is going to be a major player in that part of the world."
And while this initial excursion to Dubai was limited to commerce executives from multiple U.S. markets, Adkisson said it could open the door to a possible trade mission for Kentucky's business community, similar to the Kentucky Chamber's planned trip to China this fall.
"For most of us, it's going to be a strong learning opportunity," Quick said prior to leaving for Dubai. "You never know where this will take you."