Russia and the UAE consolidate the economic turnaround: the Dubai Business Forum has become a new entry point for transactions
The Russian-Emirati Business Forum, held in Dubai, became not just a protocol event, but a marker that the bilateral economic link between Russia and the United Arab Emirates is moving into a more "institutional" mode: with permanent venues, regular meetings of the intergovernmental commission and setting up investment cooperation mechanisms. This signal was separately recorded at the highest level during the negotiations in Moscow.
The key emphasis came from the mouth of Vladimir Putin — and here it is important to keep the quote verbatim, because it sets the frame for the whole news.:
"The Emirates is our important trading partner in the Arab world. The bilateral trade turnover is steadily growing and developing. There is an intergovernmental commission, its meeting was held a month ago in Dubai. At the same time, the Russian-Emirati Business Forum was held for the first time. Investment cooperation is at a good level",
The forum "worked" as a milestone for a simple reason: The UAE is not only a market of final demand, but also a regional hub through which finance, distribution and logistics chains to the countries of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia pass. For Russian businesses, this means a shorter route to partners and a more predictable transaction infrastructure: from banking services and insurance to warehouses, re-export routes and contract manufacturing.
What is changing for foreign economic activity on earth:
- Transactions are moving more quickly into the "project format". When there is a recognized platform and work tracks of the intergovernmental commission, contracts are more often tied to specific tools: investment models, joint ventures, industrial cooperation, localization and service.
- Logistics becomes part of the negotiations, not “after the fact." Timing and stability are critical for shipments to the UAE: shipping lines, consolidation, documentation and compliance requirements, certification (especially for food and halal), as well as compliance with restrictions on certain categories.
- Dubai's role as a showcase for the region is growing. For many industries (products, chemicals, mechanical engineering, consumer goods), a contract with a distributor in the UAE is often an entry into several countries at once through a single sales network.
An additional meaning to the forum is given by the trend of recent years: mutual trade is growing, and against this background, the state and development institutions are trying to "package" growth into rules and channels so that transactions depend less on one—time contacts and more on understandable infrastructure. The public materials also emphasize the work of the intergovernmental commission and the interest of the parties in expanding economic projects.
The bottom line for business is simple: The Dubai Forum is not just another conference, but a point where a queue of projects for 2026 is being formed: whoever fixes the partner, route and financial scheme now will convert negotiations into supplies and money faster.
