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As part of its efforts to enhance the awareness of members of different social groups, including UAE university students being investors of the future, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) held a virtual awareness seminar titled “COVID-19 Impact on Business Expectations and the GCC Economy” for students of the University of Science and Technology of Fujairah (USTF).
The seminar was delivered by Suha Rajab, a Financial Markets Expert at SCA, and attended by Dr. Ahmed Zain Elabdin, Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Financial Affairs and Dean of the College of Business; College of Business students; and a number of faculty and staff members. It addressed aspects related to the impact COVID-19 is having on businesses and the global economy in general, and on the GCC economy in particular.
The seminar is part of a series of efforts made by both parties to promote mutual cooperation and make use of the expertise and competence of SCA staff members to benefit young people and to provide them with the tools they need to conduct studies and produce educational research papers in the securities field.
The seminar mainly highlighted the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to the GCC economy, in terms of its immediate impact on oil prices and the travel, tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors. It also addressed the actions taken by corporate managements to reduce the risk impact on small and medium enterprises, SMEs, and on the labor market.
The lecturer gave an overview of the initiatives and precautionary measures taken by the GCC states to lessen the economic damage, including fiscal stimulus programs, fee forgiveness or deferral of fee payments, interest rate cuts, deferral of loan repayment, and injection of liquidity into the banking system.
The seminar broadly discussed the long-term, negative and positive, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s economy and on the hardest-hit sectors. It also examined the positive effects of the pandemic in terms of workforce resilience, innovation, corporate collaboration, and the rapid corporate technological advancements it has brought about.
