ABU DHABI, 9th April, 2025 (WAM) -- Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, highlighted the UAE as a leading investment hub during his participation in the AIM Congress 2025, hosted in Abu Dhabi from 7th to 9th April.

Throughout the 14th edition of the AIM Congress, Al Zeyoudi engaged in a series of high-level talks and panel discussions, exploring strategic investment opportunities and fostering partnerships with global stakeholders.

The AIM Congress 2024, under the theme "Mapping the Future of Global Investment: The New Wave of a Globalized Investment Landscape - Towards a New Balanced World Structure," included more than 350 dialogue sessions, and featured 900 speakers and experts from around the world, serving as a platform for global policymakers, business leaders, and investors to convene and discuss key issues shaping the global economic landscape with the objective of creating a more prosperous and sustainable global economy.

During his welcoming remarks, Al Zeyoudi said, "The UAE will continue to champion investment as an essential catalyst of development - where investment is geared towards expanding opportunities, unlocking potential, forging new industries, and driving prosperity. Now the 16th largest source of foreign investment in the world, allocating US$22.3 billion to international projects in 2023 alone, impact investment is not the future for the UAE, but very much a policy of the present. From vital infrastructure to agriculture, from energy to education, the UAE has and will continue to use its capital to upgrade economies, drive innovation and elevate lives around the world."

Speaking on the successful track record of outbound investment from the UAE, Dr. Thani cited several key international projects, including over US$50 billion invested in renewable energy projects across six continents and up to US$7 billion on integrated food parks and cold supply chains in India.

During the congress, Al Zeyoudi participated in a Ministerial Roundtable on 'The Role of International Trade Agreements in Building Open and Inclusive Markets," where he highlighted ways collaborative frameworks promote sustainable economic growth and effective responses to global trade challenges.

Al Zeyoudi outlined the success of the UAE's Comprehensive Economic Partnership program, with its 27 deals already concluded, eight of which are in force, and its impact on driving export growth and facilitating strategic investment into high-priority sectors.

Al Zeyoudi also attended the opening of the third World Local Production Forum, hosted in the UAE in partnership between the Emirates Drug Establishment and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Al Zeyoudi also engaged in bilateral discussions with senior government officials, including Rustam Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of Tatarstan, and Hua Yuan, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, and trade and investment ministers from countries representing all corners of the world, including the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Balkans and Oceania. The diversity of discussions reflects the UAE's commitment to fostering global partnerships and driving sustainable economic growth through targeted inbound and outbound investment.

As AIM Congress 2025 unfolded, it reinforced Abu Dhabi's strategic role as a global investment hub, encouraging innovative approaches to tackle economic challenges. The congress demonstrated the UAE's commitment to being a beacon of opportunity and collaboration in the Middle East and beyond, leveraging technology to shape a prosperous future for the world.