In a short period of time Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC), an agency of Dubai Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai, has received international recognition for its efforts to assist the country's exporters. EDC has been short listed for the highly prestigious World Trade Organisation, International Trade Centre Network of Trade Promotion Organisation Awards.
Engineer Saed Al Awadi, CEO of EDC stated that, "EDC has been short listed due to the impact that it has made to the country's exports and the assistance that it has provided to firms which in turn has allowed them to consider foreign markets."
Statistics from Dubai Customs show that in the first seven months of 2010 the emirate's direct trade exchange with the world has increased by over 17% compared to 2009. Exports from the emirate over this period have increased by 38.5% while re-exports have witnessed a rise of 20%. Until the establishment of EDC, the emirate's companies, 98.5% of which are small and medium size (SMEs), tended to focus on the domestic market.
EDC, through its initiatives and programmes, has been successful in changing this behaviour through educating first time exporters on how to carry out the process of selling their products and services overseas while meeting the sophisticated needs of experienced exporters. Al Awadi commented, "That the growth in Dubai's exports and re-exports are a testimony of the achievements of EDC".
One early and highly successful initiative developed by EDC was to be part of an international network, of Trade Promotion Organisations (TPOs). As a member of such a network of TPOs, through its Tradelink Partnership, EDC was able to provide an extensive portfolio of services, to its members in foreign markets. The network of TPOs also allowed EDC to learn from the experiences of more established and mature TPOs.
In this respect, EDC successfully used its network of TPOs to train its staff in the various areas of export promotion and hence also support the Emiratisation goals of the country. As well as working with foreign partners, EDC has joined forces with business clusters such as Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), DAFZA, DIC etc. so as to ensure that their companies are able to maintain their competitiveness in their traditional markets while developing news ones. To support the activities of companies in business clusters EDC has held a number of very successful inward and outward trade missions.
EDC was able to attract buyer delegations from overseas markets during the exhibitions such as GITEX, Gulf Food, Arab Health amongst others. EDC has also held very successful trade missions to Australia in the field of Islamic Financial Services; Argentina, Brazil, Chile and others being part of other mixed sector missions.
EDC has also established a network of Overseas Trade Offices with the aim to increase the international competitiveness of exporters and to raise the general market awareness of UAE products in foreign markets.
Awadi commented, "Our experience leads us to believe that in the international arena, firms need greater assistance in promoting their products and the role of one to one customer building is very important." He further added, "The one to one interaction with customers implies that firms need to make the right impression the first time and therefore need to be aware of market entry methods."
This is more so a problem with SMEs due to their limited international networks that are commonly required for exporting and hence EDC's Overseas Trade Office role is to build these on behalf of exporters. The Overseas Trade Office will be able to advise exporters especially in relation to the appropriate standards as well as building effective relationships with the various foreign government departments and agencies.
More recently, EDC established the Dubai Export Academy as the only centre of excellence in the field of export knowledge that provides firms with both generic management skills as well as on the ground trade information. Al Awadi, commented, "We at EDC, strongly believe that practical export knowledge is vital to the future success of the emirate's firms and economy. In today's competitive business environment it is not just about having a great product to export but knowing how to get it into foreign markets in a profitable and sustainable manner."
Awadi further stressed, "We need to ensure that our firms are having developed the appropriate export strategies with all relevant information. It is only when our firms are successful in foreign markets that we can have a truly prosperous and triumphant economy. We strongly believe that exports are the key to economic growth and development." The Academy seeks to capitalise on the knowledge and experience of firms who have ventured overseas through sharing their experiences with other firms.
With such an extensive portfolio of services and successes, EDC was well placed to apply for the highly prestigious World Trade Promotion Organisations Award (WTPO) award which is open to the 153 member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Applications to the award are made on a national basis through the country's WTO Secretariat Office in Geneva.
Dr. Ashraf Mahate, the Head of Market Intelligence at EDCand co-author of the submission document commented that, "I strongly believe that participation in international awards allows young organisations such as ours to review its performance and learn from more developed institutions. More importantly, it increases the global presence of the country and its exporters".
The successes and developments carried out by EDC in its very short life span were recognized when the International Trade Centre (Part of WTO) Trade Promotion Organisation Awards Committee short listed EDC as one of the finalists. Being a finalist in this award makes EDC part of a group of ten trade promotion organisations who have been short listed for the various categories of awards.
More impressive is that fact that EDC is the youngest of all the trade promotion organisations short-listed. Furthermore, EDC is now on the same platform as some of its foreign partners where on various occasions it has sent its staff for training to trade promotion organisations such as to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).