The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of Bahrain organized the “Ring Economy … Towards a Sustainable Economy” Forum, this morning (Monday), with the participation of a group of officials and businessmen from the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain, based on the depth of the close brotherly ties, and the common visions that bring together the two brotherly countries and their leading economic cooperation in various fields, which is a model in integration and partnership, and the commitment of the two countries to implement the principles of the circular economy, as part of Their national strategies, to achieve sustainable development and prosperity.
The forum, which was held in the “Beach Title Resort” in Diyar Al Muharraq, shed light on the circular economy, as an integrated economic model aimed at enhancing sustainability concepts and achieving economic growth, by adopting waste reduction applications and increasing efficiency, recycling and preserving natural resources and raw materials.
His Excellency Fahd Mohammed bin Kardous Al -Amiri, Ambassador of the sisterly United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of Bahrain, delivered a speech at the opening of the forum, in which he stressed the importance of the circular economy, which today represents an axis of attention due to its pivotal role in promoting sustainability and efficiency of resources exploitation, reducing waste, and recycling, indicating that the estimates of the World Economic Forum indicate that the application of the principles of the circular economy can add $ 4.5 trillion to the global economy Millions of job opportunities by 2030.
In his speech, His Excellency the Ambassador explained that the increasing environmental and economic challenges highlight the circular economy as an innovative solution that reformulates the methods of production and consumption in a sustainable manner, in line with the targets of access to carbon neutrality.
He called on investors and the private sector in the two brotherly countries to explore the promising opportunities in the circular economy sector, in a way that contributes to ensuring the sustainability of resources, achieving welfare for future generations, and building a sustainable and prosperous economic future.
His Excellency stressed the importance of joint cooperation in this promising sector, which represents an opportunity to support the efforts of the two countries in achieving balanced economic growth while preserving resources, noting that the UAE targets investments worth $ 160 billion in the new economy sectors, including the circular economy, during the next three decades.
His Excellency said: “The leadership and government of the UAE was concerned with the circular economy, and it was able to emerge as a pioneering model in creating an attractive environment for this investment, through a supportive environment that includes flexible legislation, investment incentives, and a distinct infrastructure, which makes it go with a confident pace towards adopting the circular economy, in line with the UAE Vision 2071 that aims to build a sustainable knowledge economy.”
His Excellency added that “to achieve these goals, a national policy of the circular economy was adopted, to be a framework that aims to define the state’s priorities in strengthening this concept in a number of priority sectors, namely: green infrastructure, sustainable transport, sustainable manufacturing, and the production and consumption of sustainable food.”
After that, a recorded speech was presented to His Excellency Mr. Abdullah bin Touq Al -Marri, Minister of Economy, Chairman of the Ring Economy Council in the United Arab Emirates, during which he shed light on the circular economy, which is one of the pillars of the new economic model of the UAE in light of the vision of “We UAE 2031”.
His Excellency explained that the concept of the circular economy is based on controlling resources, reducing waste of goods and energy, and developing sustainable mechanisms to benefit from raw materials and recycling them in a manner that meets human needs and development requirements.
His Excellency stressed that the government of the UAE, with the guidance of its wise leadership, has early realized the importance of adopting the circular economy model because of its economic and development benefits, in line with the state’s strategy to consolidate the UAE’s position as a global economic center, bearing many opportunities for growth and prosperity for talents and entrepreneurial companies from all over the world, and a major player in global efforts for green development.
His Excellency pointed out that the Council of Ministers has adopted the UAE policy of the circular economy, which aims to achieve sustainable management and effective use of natural resources, in a manner that guarantees the quality of life for current and future generations.
He added that during the last stage, the Council developed about 22 policies and a group of important international initiatives and partnerships, with the aim of accelerating the pace of the transformation towards the circular economy model in the UAE, in four main sectors: manufacturing, food, infrastructure, and transportation.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Economy, in cooperation with strategic partners at the local and international levels, worked to support this vision, and launched the “Economy turning to digital” in partnership with the Italian “Etieza San Paolo” group, which allocated 6 billion euros to support the transition towards the world’s circular economy, in cooperation with a group of international partners.
His Excellency explained that this initiative aims to support innovation, re -manufacturing, and provide investment opportunities for startups, small and medium in the country, and these efforts reflect the extent of the UAE government’s commitment to enabling green development tools, and the adoption of the circular economy model as a priority within its development agenda for the next fifty years, based on its keenness to establish the state’s position globally as one of the most circular economies Development.
His Excellency stressed that there are wide economic opportunities related to the shift towards the circular economy model, noting that the World Economic Forum is expected to achieve the circular economy more than $ 4.5 trillion of economic benefits by 2030, and some estimates indicate that this model can increase the gross domestic product of the Gulf Cooperation Council states by 95 to 105 billion US dollars, and provides between 205 to 306 thousand opportunities Work, as well as improve the quality of people’s lives and create attractive growth opportunities for the private sector.
During the forum’s sessions, national policies in the UAE and the Kingdom of Bahrain were reviewed in the application of the circular economy, and the visions and strategies adopted by the two countries in this framework, where Mr. Tariq Al -Suwaidi, Director of the New Economy Administration, a member of the Organizational Committee of the Ring Economy Council in the UAE, reviewed the most prominent policies and achievements achieved by the state in adopting the concepts of the circular economy in terms of increasing productivity and enhancing efficiency, noting the importance of official efforts made to prepare the environment The legislative necessary to strengthen this sector, and support the private sector to play a pivotal role in the circular economy.
Mr. Yasser Hamid Abdel Aal, Director of Economic Planning Department at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy in the Kingdom of Bahrain, through his paper in the forum, also touched on Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and its principles based on competitiveness, justice and sustainability, noting the importance of the role of the circular economy in supporting economic growth in the Kingdom, through its contribution to enhancing the contribution of non -oil sectors, creating new job opportunities and investments, and raising the efficiency of resources and reducing costs.
He affirmed the commitment of the Kingdom of Bahrain to shift towards a sustainable circular economy, by harmonizing economic and environmental policies, developing the legislative structure and strengthening partnerships to achieve a balance between growth and environmental protection.
Abdel -Al explained that the size of the world’s circular economy market amounted to about 554.5 billion US dollars in 2023, and that the shift to the circular economy may contribute to creating 24 million new jobs globally by 2030, and that adopting circular concepts can contribute to reducing waste amounts of more than 2 billion tons annually at the present time and expected to reach 3.8 billion tons by 2050 to less than 2 billion tons by 2050.
Abdel -Aal talked about the initiatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain to support the circular economy, which included going to reach the zero neutrality by 2060 and reducing emissions by 30 percent by 2035, noting also the launch of the industrial sector strategy in December 2021, which is based on supporting the transformation of the sector towards the fourth industrial revolution and the application of the concept of the carbon circular economy, in addition to launching the green factory marking with the aim of promoting sustainability and applying concepts Circular, adopting the installation of photovoltaic energy systems in industrial areas, and prohibiting mono -use plastic bags less than 35 microns and other initiatives.
The engineer, Laila, on the director of the Climate Change Department, touched on the Supreme Council of the Environment in the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Ring Economy of the carbon, noting that the Kingdom focused in its efforts to achieve energy efficiency and carbon capture, which will have a great impact and return in supporting climate transformation. She stressed the importance of developing legislation related to capture and storing carbon to increase productive efficiency.
The opportunities that enhance innovation and sustainability have also been reviewed in the economy of the two countries, in order to move forward towards new horizons, which enhance the pillars of achieving sustainable development, through the exchange of ideas and experiences, between decision makers, experts and entrepreneurs, who reviewed their experiences in applying the principles of the circular economy, in multiple projects with economic and environmental returns that have proven their usefulness in achieving sustainable development goals.
In a statement to His Excellency the UAE Ambassador to the media on the sidelines of the conference, he said that the UAE puts the circular economy at the heart of its strategies to achieve sustainable development, enhance optimal benefit from resources, reduce waste, and encourage recycling.
He added: “We are pleased to participate in this important forum organized by the Embassy of the UAE in Bahrain, where we highlight the vital role of this economic model in supporting global sustainability.”
His Excellency stressed the importance of ambitious vision and great investments in this field, which will reach 160 billion dollars during the next three decades, noting that the UAE seeks to consolidate its position as a pioneer in this sector.
He explained that estimates indicate that the application of the circular economy can contribute to achieving $ 6.5 trillion for global economies by 2030 according to the latest global estimates, and that the UAE vision 2071 devotes the concept of sustainable knowledge economy, in line with the goals of building a more diverse and prosperous economic future.
His Excellency concluded by saying: “We are pleased to see the ongoing efforts in the Kingdom of Bahrain to enhance the circular economy, and we look forward to more cooperation between our two countries to achieve the utmost benefit from this promising trend.”
