The capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and its National Exhibition Center were at the centre of attention this month as the 13th edition of the Annual Investors Meeting Congress took place between May 7 and 9. Around 12,000 visitors from over 175 countries attended this magnificent event, which was aimed at connecting investors to inventors, representatives of corporations and organizations to enterprises. The theme of this year’s edition of the Congress was “Adapting to a Shifting Investment Landscape, Harnessing New Potential for Global Economic Development”.
The opening ceremony which took place on the 7th of May was supported by the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development as the lead partner. Among the attendees were Ministers, government officials and decision-makers from around the globe. Among distinguished guests of the opening ceremony were: His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, as well as His Excellency Andry Rajoelina, President of Madagascar and Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit. They gave keynote speeches at the opening ceremony and spoke about finding solutions for the transformation of the global investment landscape.
The Guest of Honor, His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi emphasized how the UAE’s investment journey has evolved and expanded over time. His Highness highlighted that the country has become a key source of FDI on a global scale.
President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, who also gave a keynote speech talked about the potential Madagascar has for attracting investors. In his speech, his excellency focused on the importance of renewable energy and said that the goal of the government is to double or even triple energy production capacity by building solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States also addressed the attendees at the opening ceremony, praising AIM Congress for building strong partnerships and benefitting from the diversity of the participants under the UAE’s strong leadership. In his keynote speech, the Secretary-General also talked about the importance of AI for the future of the region.
Throughout the years, panel discussions became an integral part of the AIM Congress. It really plays a key role in connecting people of different backgrounds and interests. Around 400 panel discussions took place between May 7 and 9, most of which were held on Day II of the Congress. Senior policymakers and top business leaders, as well as representatives of different organizations and start-up founders, exchanged knowledge and experiences. Georgia Today team interviewed not only invited speakers but also moderators and representatives of different countries.
Glen Gilmore, an influencer in digital transformation, emerging tech & travel, who moderated several panel discussions and also shared his views on relevant topics, told us that the most important thing we all should learn is that technology must be people-centred.
“The thing that attracted me to come is the emphasis on marrying technology to people, and an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and sustainability. So, as we’ve heard from speakers from different countries, the theme has been to make sure that you match technology to people and to real needs”
Glen Gilmore – influencer in digital transformation, emerging tech & travel
CEO & founder of the Blended Capital Group, Paul Clements-Hunt, who moderated another panel discussion related to the importance of blended finance truly amazed the audience with the way he led the session. With experienced financiers from South Africa and Europe, he discussed how it is possible to blend capital to return profit and investment, while at the same time balancing environment and social goals.
“One of the biggest takeaways from the conversation was the role of politicians. We need stable frameworks. We need certainty. We need to understand the capital flows beyond a five-year term in a democratic sense. Capital is about ten, 15, 20, 25 years. That means you need stable political frameworks. You need very capable civil service networks that go beyond a given political party. We’re missing that. We’re missing political leadership”
Paul Clements-Hunt – CEO & Founder, The Blended Capital Group
Although the importance of dialogue was not among the main topics of AIM’s panel discussions, this unusual, yet very important issue was what His Excellency, Elmedin Konakovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina focused on. The biggest takeaway of his speech was that dialogue between opposing sides must be a priority when the future is at stake.
“Today, I’m a minister of Foreign Affairs, and I’m sitting with my colleagues at the council of ministers and 20 years ago we were fighting each other, shooting each other and today, because we are really strong enough for dialogue, we are creating a better future for our country. This was really a good opportunity to share our experience, but also to hear and to learn from some other experiences and to hear some information regarding tolerance a word that we today need more than ever”
E. Elmedin Konaković – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Among distinguished speakers was Ambassador Rae Kwon Chung, board member of the foundation of former secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon. Mr. Chung spoke about the role of individuals in dealing with climate change.
“We have discussed in my panel the climate change issues, and I proposed that the current climate regime top down, pulled by the government and business, has to be supported by a bottom-up approach, by the voluntary participation from the consumers, based on the “Me First” campaign. “Me First” means that I should be the first to share the responsibility based on personally determined contribution. So this is the proposal I made, and the reaction was quite positive”
Ambassador Rae Kwon Chung – Board Member, Ban Ki-Moon Foundation
His Excellency, Abdulla Salem Al Nuaimi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) also participated in panel discussions, in which he focused on different issues, related to market infrastructure and new technologies.
“Today’s session was about the market and market infrastructure and the role of development and ethics. We talk about the certain elements in the market infrastructure. Also, we covered the development of ADX (Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange) and talked about certain types of projects that we did. We also discussed new technologies like blockchain and how blockchain would impact the security market and the process in the security exchange”
E. Abdulla Salem Al Nuaimi – CEO, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)
When it comes to the participation of different countries, it’s safe to say that AIM Congress 2024 broke all its previous records. On one hand, people from 175 countries attended the event and on the other, dozens of nations were given an opportunity to present their unique culture and potential to investors and start-up founders. Actually, this is what AIM is all about – to connect people of different backgrounds and help them to work together. Wendy Chen, Section chief of the general office of the Tianhe district of Guangzhou, China gave us a comment in which she talked about the numbers which make Tianhe the most interesting place for investment in the GBA area.
“We’re very happy to join the AIM Congress. Let me give you some more information about the Tianhe district. This district is the most powerful one in Guangzhou in the GBA area with a size of around 137km² and an annual GDP of $86 Billion. It’s truly quite a place for investment if someone is interested in investing in Guangzhou or in the GBA area”
Wendy Chen – section chief of the general office of Tianhe district government, Guangzhou
Several African countries were presented at the event, including the “Pearl of Africa” – Uganda. Representative of the country, James Kalema, who is a chairman of the board of Trustees at Uganda Wildlife Authority told us a lot about why investors should be interested in investing in Uganda.
“We have very rich biodiversity, wildlife, birds, mammals, and plants. Uganda has over 1000 species of birds. we have a number of various attractions in the protected areas, which are managed by Uganda Wildlife Authority. The people of Uganda are very friendly, they are very hospitable and welcoming. So we’ve created an environment, which has been provided by our government, to make investment opportunities possible because the policy is directed towards making investments”
James Kalema – Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Uganda Wildlife Authority
There are as many reasons to invest in the Philippines, as islands are in the country, Karen Mae G. Sarinas-Baydo told us, when we asked her, why should investors be interested in investing in her country. This archipelagic country in Asia had one of the most colourful and beautifully designed sections at the AIM Congress 2024.
“Welcome to the Philippines! The Philippines is in Southeast Asia, strategically located to cater to various markets all over the world. With 7641 islands, we offer 7641 ways and more to love the Philippines. With our unique tourism offerings from our natural resources, vibrant festivals, local cuisines and the warm hospitality of Filipinos and all the natural resources that are available, our destination is not just for tourism, but also for tourism investments. With the government’s support such as master plans, incentive programs and facilitation assistance, we are ready to do business with you”
Karen Mae G. Sarinas-Baydo – Assistant Chief Operating Officer, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, Republic of the Philippines
Not only representatives of countries were interested in finding investors, but small and medium-sized enterprises and start-up founders as well, who attended the event, mostly, to attract investment. Georgia Today team was amazed by the diversity of projects that were presented in pavilions of the AIM Congress 2024. From flying cars to smartwatches, there were all sorts of technological masterpieces there. Speaking of smartwatches, we met Abhay Swami from India. He’s the founder and CEO of a company which manufactures unique watches for animals.
“We are in the animal tech industry and we manufacture smartwatches for animals. We can use the smartwatch for the livestock, pets and wildlife. So the main objective of the smartwatch is to monitor the health activity of the animal. And with the help of that real-time data, we are going to give animal health-related services at one portal. So, we can say that our www.myanimal.in is the Amazon for animals”
Abhay Swami – Founder and CEO of Infoigy | India
From the Indian section, we went to the Chinese one, where we met Tony Ni, son of the CEO of OYMotion, a company which develops biosensors and builds mind-controlled bionic arms. This prosthetic device will change the lives of many.
“Today we’re at AIM and what we’re doing at the OYMotion is developing biosensors. As you can see behind me the products that we build is based on neuroscience and we’re translating human data into actionable actions. So, from EMG we produce prostheses and from EEG we produce diagnosis devices used for treating neurodegenerative diseases or therapy. At the AIM we want to establish a Middle Eastern presence, work with investors, and work with distributors”
Tony Ni – CEO of Synchroni, son of the CEO of OYMotion | China
While Asian companies tried to attract investment with technological masterpieces, Cameroonian companies “ETHNIC” and “Joyce4life” offered something different, something unique that no one else, but the people of Africa could offer. Here’s what Bitjoka Eliane and Germaine NDONGO NDGONO had to say.
“I came here to present my clothing brand, the name of which is ETHNIC. It is a brand that brings together painting and design. I am a painter and a designer, so I paint the clothes I make, which creates this unique synthesis. I’m glad that I participated in the AIM Investor Research Program which helps brands make their crafts interesting for the industry”
Bitjoka Eliane – Visual artist, Founder of ETHNIC | Cameroon
“We manufacture cosmetics with ingredients from our country, Cameroon. We use turmeric, avocado oil and cocoa oil. I am happy to be here and I hope I’ll be able to find investors to sell our product around the world. My wish is to be able to sell my products in this beautiful city of Abu Dhabi, that welcomes us”
Germaine NDONGO NDONGO – Promoter of Joyce4life | Cameroon
As per usual, Austrians didn’t fail to amaze attendees of the event. It was simply impossible not to notice an electronic copter, which as we later found out from Yvonne Winter is just one of the members of the E-copter family. This unique type of transportation runs purely on electric battery and is built to ease problems related to congestion, noise and pollution – Key issues related to the urban environment.
“We develop a modular E copter family. You might wonder, what is E-copter… It’s basically an electric helicopter that is flying automatically. We developed a family consisting of a single-seater, and a twin-seater for two passengers and what we started with is the cargo version that is capable of transporting 200kg in a predefined route automatically from waypoint to waypoint. It is a very silent, efficient, affordable, and operable solution for transporting goods and people from A to B”
Yvonne Winter – Co-founder and chief operating officer of Flynow | Austria
RAIM Congress, which annually takes place in the United Arab Emirates is among those unique events, which help people come together, talk to each other, share knowledge and experience and attract investment. This year’s edition of the Congress opened up opportunities for many inventors, start-up founders or enterprises. Representatives of different countries managed to attract investment, which is now more important than ever. Preparations for the AIM Congress 2025 are already in full swing and not only the government of Georgia but also Georgian start-up owners and CEOs of companies must take notice, as there are barely any other international events in the Middle East, where they can attract investment the way it is possible at the AIM Congress.
