Next month the Swiss Business Council, in Dubai and the Northern Emirates will celebrate two decades of successful promotion of trade relations with the United Arab Emirates. In celebration of this achievement, prominent partners, government officials and Swiss businessmen will meet in the Fairmont Hotel, Dubai, on the 7 October for a dedicatory gala dinner.  

"We expect the presence of more than 200 guests at the event, which represents an important occasion to meet, communicate and promote joint cooperation", said Peter Harradine, President of the Swiss Business Council in Dubai and Northern Emirates.

During the dinner, the award ‘Lord of the Matterhorn’, which is named after one of the most famous mountains in Switzerland, will be presented to an honorable UAE representative that has helped consolidate the relationship between the Swiss Business Council and the UAE.

"This award honors the prestigious UAE nationals who have contributed to the success of the Council and strengthen its presence in the UAE", said Michael Gebert, executive director of the Swiss Business Council in Dubai and Northern Emirates. In previous years, several important figures have received the ‘Lord of the Matterhorn’, including H.E. Hamad Buamim, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).

The objective of the non-profit Swiss Business Council in Dubai and Northern Emirates since 1996 has been to promote the commercial interests and activities of companies and individuals between the UAE and Switzerland. Today, these bilateral relations boast accomplishment.

“Switzerland is one of the UAE’s strategic trade partners in Europe with bilateral trade in 2015 amounting to almost AED 33.6 billion, with UAE imports accounting for over AED 19.5 bn and exports worth more than AED 14.1 bn. The UAE remains the top export market within the GCC for Switzerland, ahead of Saudi Arabia which imports Swiss goods and services worth over AED 18 bn annually,” said Michelle Gebert, executive director, SBC Dubai & Northern Emirates.

For the case in Switzerland, jewelry and precious metals occupied first place on the list of Swiss exports to the UAE in 2015 valued at 11.4 billion dirhams, followed by watches valued at 3.63 billion dirhams. Swiss exports of equipment and machinery were valued at 1.03 billion dirhams, pharmaceutical products reached almost 867 million dirhams, and aircraft and vehicles reached 639 billion dirhams. Swiss exports of cosmetics and beauty products, and optical and medical equipment to UAE are also experiencing steady growth.

Switzerland was also the first country to confirm its participation in the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.  This involvement is reflected in the Swiss Pavilion investment evaluated at 57 million dirhams, which will be constructed on the show floor.  It will highlight the research and innovation capacity of Switzerland and its contributions in the areas of renewable energies, mobility and the environment.

The gala dinner party will also bring to light the achievements of the Swiss business community in the field of sustainability and innovation. Swiss technology has attracted the attention of the world again in the past month through the first solar-powered aircraft, led by the Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre André Borschberg, in a historic achievement described as a milestone in the field of clean energy . It will also reinforce Swiss cooperation with UAE that took place in May of this year by Dubai Electricity and the Dubai Water and Environmental Group at the Swiss Business Council, in the presence of H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, H.E. Christian Watts, Consul General of Switzerland in Dubai. With more than 100 people that participated in this event including Swiss senior executives from different energy, water and environment companies, it is no doubt that the gala dinner will strengthen other efforts like those from the environmental sector.