Union of Arab Chambers

General information

The Union developed over the years a wide range of activities including the organization of conferences and seminars, either solely or with the cooperation of others, besides issuing economic bulletins, studies and books, and a monthly magazine, in hand copies and electronic copies.

The Union was the first to call for the establishment of the Arab Economic Unity Council in 1964, and the Arab Common Market, which the Council approved. The Union also called for, or established, or was present when various Arab regional organizations were established, such as the Arab Organization for Administrative Sciences, the Arab Industrial Development Center for the Arab Countries, which is now called the Arab Industrial Development and Metal Organization (AIDMO).

1. Seminars and Conferences

a. Seminars:

The Union designs and delivers training programs for Arab chambers and corporates, targeting the upgrading of skills, knowledge and experience of their employees and line managers. These training seminars and programs include these devoted for regional participants and those devoted for in-house needs of corporates.

b. Forums:

The Union organizes, every year, a set of forums in Arab countries which deal with strategic issues, or forums that are devoted for issues related to economic sectors. These forums gather leaders of Arab chambers and private sector from both the regional and international markets.

c. Conferences:

The Union organizes every year, in cooperation with the League of Arab States, Arab and international economic organizations, and Arab-Foreign Joint Chambers, international economic forums and conferences in key international markets. These events include:

- The Arab-German Business Forum.
- The Arab-Greek Business Forum.
- The Arab-British Economic Forum.
- The Arab-Portuguese Economic Forum.
- The Arab-Belgium-Luxembourg Business Forum.
- The Arab-Japanese Economic Conference.
- The Arab-Chinese Economic Conference.
- The Arab-Indian Economic Conference.
- The Arab-Turkish Economic Forum.
- The Arab-Hungarian Economic Forum.

The Arab Businessmen and Investors Conference is a landmark in the world of regional and international conferences which is organized annually by the Union in cooperation with the League of Arab States and the Arab Investment Guarantee and Export Credit Corporation. It strives to promote inter-Arab investments in various economic sectors.

The Public Conference is the basic platform for the Union where ideas and visions of the Arab businessmen converge in relation to Arab economic integration. It constitutes a basic gathering in the Arab economic community and a reference to the private sector vis-à-vis the Arab governments and the League of Arab States. It meets once every two years and is attended by delegates of the Arab Chambers' members. The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and Arab Governments are represented in this Conference as observer members, besides international economic organizations and unions.

2. Research

a. Books:

The Union represents a basic intellectual source for Arab businessmen and a major contributor to the Arab economic library, through its research activities which include studies, reports and books. One of the important publications of the Union which has been published yearly since 1961 in Arabic and English is the «Arab Economic Report» which has become a reference for researchers worldwide. The Union also issues its annual Greater Arab Free Trade Area Report, which is presented to the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League. The Union also publishes its quarterly research bulletin, the Arab Economic Review. All these research contributions handle key economic issues related to the Arab economy and private sector, as well as Arab economic integration. The Union publishes Economic Directories which are related to Arab trade, investment, businessmen and investors.

b. Reports:

The Union issues, during every year, a set of reports that deal with key economic issues. This set includes the following:

• A report on the current and expected economic developments in the Arab world. This is the «Arab Economic Trends Report».

• A report on the investment activity and trends in the Arab region, including the foreign direct investments and inter-Arab investments. This is the «Arab Investment Report».

• A report on the banking, capital markets, and insurance developments in the Arab world. This is the «Arab Financial Sector Report».

c. Electronic Economic Monitors

The Union publishes on daily, monthly and quarterly basis, a set of economic bulletins in an electronic way that are disseminated to a wide group of businessmen, investors and institutions. These include the following:

• UAC Daily Monitor, which is issued on daily basis and includes key and significant economic and financial news.

• UAC Monthly Monitor, which is issued on monthly basis and covers a wide range of news related to the Union, Arab and foreign joint chambers, economic and financial sectors, exhibitions, fairs, investment and trade opportunities and others.

3. Library

The Union's Library is rich with books, bulletins, periodicals, magazines, and historic documents which are related to the Arab economy, private sector, and regional integration. These publications are collected from domestic, regional and international sources. This library is one of the richest libraries in the region. The Union provides Arab Chambers, businessmen, and researches with a wide range of data and information about the Arab economies, trade and investment issues, and Arab-foreign economic relations.

4. Al-Omran Al-Arabi

The Union issues a monthly magazine, «Al-Omran Al-Arabi», specialized in the economics of Arab countries and private sector. Its content is geared towards enhancing the current status of Arab economic cooperation and integration, besides supporting the role of the Arab private sector in socio-economic development of the Arab region.

The magazine is the voice speaker of the Arab private sector. The magazine contains research papers on key economic issues; interviews with private-sector leaders; articles on trade and investment opportunities; developments in Arab Chambers and their unions as well as Arab-foreign joint chambers.

The magazine is distributed during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group.

5. Other Activities and Services

UAC has a center specialized in services to entrepreneurs named the «Innovation and Enterpreneurship Center». This Center focused on promoting the entrepreneurship spirit, encouraging the creation of new enterprises, helping the businesses to develop and grown, and promoting domestic and foreign investment.

UAC also provides corporates with advisory services in the context of the «Enterprise Optimization» Concept. These services aim at supporting the growth, activities, expansions and profitability of enterprises in the Arab world, in conjunction with a leading advisory services company, the «International Consulting Training Network».

In addition, UAC has on its website a special section for acquainting the Arab business community with the available business and investment opportunities in Arab countries.

Also, UAC has recently started launching an e-encyclopedia on Arab economic laws and legislations, which provides a comprehensive overview about the trade, investment, industrial, financial and other economic legislations and laws in the Arab countries.

UAC has also recently launched an «Economic Intelligence Unit» at its headquarters, which is concerned with issuing information and reports about key and strategic economic issues on the international and regional levels.

Furthermore, UAC has plans for organizing regional exhibitions and fairs in the Arab countries devoted to investment, trade and banking sectors.

UAC is adopting a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy to support, through several activities and services, the societies of Arab countries.