The summit which focuses on finding means to expand and strengthen the economic bonds and encourage investments between Asia and the Middle East has begun with 150 senior decision-makers present to brainstorm the way forward. The summit is called the Asia-Middle East Investment Summit (AMEIS 2012) and it’s taking place in Singapore. The event is co-located with the 3rd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2012).
In his welcoming remarks, the Honorary Chairman of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa praised government spending for encouraging regional economic growth and highlighted the role of financial markets in making the first quarter of this year positive whilst giving the credit to the Sukuk markets. He said the summit was a good example of assuring global economic growth between the two regions.
Participants had a discussion over the evaluation of the cross-border trade growth and its potentials, the investment flows and their strong mobilization between Asia and the Middle East as they move towards a much healthier relationship. According to Ben Simpfendorfer, “Trade between Asia and the Middle East is flourishing, its total value rising above $400 billion last year.”
The Chief Executive of the AMEIS 2012, David McLean, elaborated on the potentials of the two regions as partners.”With both the regions aiming for a more diversified and balanced growth, and given abundance of liquidity and capital in both the regions, there are significant opportunities for cross-border trade and investment flows as investors look for markets which can offer higher returns at acceptable risk levels.”
Asia-Middle East Investment Summit kicks off
