The Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) acts as a strategic partner for global investors looking to grow their business in the emirate, home to diverse and attractive opportunities. Thanks largely to efforts by the FDI office, the emirate is enjoying a sustainable growth path geared toward economic diversification.
In an interview with Economy Middle East, Mohamed Juma’a Al Musharrkh, CEO of Sharjah FDI Office, discussed the investment opportunities across a range of sectors and industries, highlighting which of these are most attractive to investors.
What can you tell us about having robust and sustainable economic infrastructures and competitive logistics to attract investors?
There are a number of reasons why the emirate of Sharjah has proven to be a hub of possibilities for investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs. Our geographic position makes Sharjah a great place to be based, not only within our own country’s borders but in the world as a whole, and we aim to be the center of business and commerce globally. Sharjah’s advanced position in global trade, along with its well-developed infrastructural facilities and highly attractive investment ecosystem, make the emirate a hub for prosperous activity. These facts were outlined in various economic summits and seminars in which we represented ourselves in the UAE and around the world.
What investment schemes does your office have to grow healthcare, travel & leisure mobility & logistics, talent & innovation, green technology, culture & heritage, and manufacturing?
We created the Investors Services Centre (SAEED) to be a dynamic entity developed specifically to help investors and entrepreneurs, from the region and abroad, set up their businesses in the emirate of Sharjah with unequaled speed and efficiency. We have developed many incentives and attractive reasons to incentivize businesses to choose Sharjah as their new home and headquarters.
We have thriving pharmaceutical manufacturing and precision medicine, a specialized healthcare sector that caters to a range of health-related facilities including elderly care, as well as a growing “Wellness & Medical Tourism” sector.
As more and more people discover the opportunities that present themselves in Sharjah and take note of our rising local population, medical needs and advances will be driving high volumes of spending in the health and wellbeing sector here.
In regards to travel & leisure, Sharjah’s diverse natural landscapes present opportunities for varied tourism offerings across the emirate. These include Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism in the East Coast and Central Regions, spotlighting Sharjah as an ideal location for film shoots and television commercials due to our many different biomes under special care by skilled and passionate people.
We are also an ideal location to hold business events, festivals, and live entertainment. Expanding on the growing talent in the area also makes Sharjah an ideal place for further innovation as we enable local human resources to lead the way with further education and training.
Sharjah is a regional champion for driving innovation in sustainability, with the emirate on track to become the first zero-waste-to-landfill city in the region, with plans to be leading globally as well. Investments in waste recycling and waste-to-energy systems, clean energy generation and storage, smart buildings, and green construction activities continue to be on the rise.
Sharjah is a symbol of a cultural, intellectual, and architectural revolution, and our commitment to heritage and culture was instrumental in earning the emirate the UNESCO title of the “Cultural Capital of the Arab World.”
Sharjah, meaning “Rising Sun,” dates back more than 6,000 years, and under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, our efforts to make Sharjah one of the cultural centers of the world is increasing in leaps and bounds.
When it comes to manufacturing, investments in technology are outpacing all other sectors. Sharjah, which is home to more than 35 percent of the UAE’s manufacturing industries, has the potential to lead the world in advancing the development and creation of products and machinery.
Read more: Sharjah’s sustainability focus pays rich dividends in real estate sector
What are the top three key investments areas in Sharjah with the largest potential ROI for investors?
Sharjah has a business-friendly environment backed by modern legislation, a future-ready infrastructure, a highly talented workforce as well as more than 60,000 SMEs and start-ups.
As mentioned earlier, Sharjah has a multitude of sectors one can invest to achieve highly lucrative ROIs. Using our specialized free zones, or industrial zones coupled with strategic locations and global connectivity via sea and air, regardless of what investors might choose to invest, it will prove to be a profitable venture.
That said, our real estate sector continues to experience a boom, and as more people move to this culture-rich city, then naturally the travel & leisure as well as healthcare sectors will continue to flourish and have robust outlooks for sizeable ROIs.
