Dubai – Madagascar Business Forum Heralds Promising Partnership
From 27 to 28 May 2025, the Dubai Chambers hosted a business delegation from Madagascar during the Dubai – Madagascar Business Forum. Malgasy President Andry Rajoelina led the delegation which included high officials as well as 80 captains of industry. On the Emirati sides, some 125 business leaders attended the Forum. During the Forum, the two sides to explored the deepening of business partnerships.
During his welcome address, the Chairman of Dubai Chambers Saeed Al Mansoori underlined the great potential of the economic ties between Dubai and Madagascar. The non-oil trade between UAE and Madagascar grew from AED 692 million ($188M) in 2023 to AED 1.3 billion ($354M) in 2024, representing a remarkable 90% year-on-year increase.
“The steady growth in economic ties between Dubai and Madagascar reflects our shared commitment to strengthening bilateral partnerships and exploring new opportunities for impactful cooperation that support sustainable economic growth. The launch of Emirates Airlines’ direct service to Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital, in September 2024 marked a significant milestone in boosting bilateral trade, tourism, and collaboration.”
Dubai Chambers Chair Saeed Al Mansoori
On his part, Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina underlined that Madagascar is ‘under construction’ with huge needs in infrastructure development, including highways, railways, housing, and Special Economic Zones (#SEZ). President Rajoelina also outlined the efforts of his government to maintain political stability, undertake structural reforms and promote sustainable development.
The direct flight from Dubai to Tana by Emirates Airlines is certainly giving a boost to the tourism sector and is expected to expand in the future. Endowed with a unique and rich #biodiversity, Madagascar plans to upgrade its accommodation capacity by adding up to 11,500 rooms in its hotel park.
The development strategy of Madagascar hinges on industrialization to promote higher local value addition (#LVA). In particular, Madagascar pays particular attention to agrifood processing and ambitions to transition from a domestic-oriented to an export-oriented agribusiness. To support the #industrialization drive and enhance #ElectricityAccess, Madagascar envisions to at least double, or even triple its power generation capacity, while favoring #RenewableEnergy.
During the Forum, Masdar announced a new 150 MW #PV farm project in Madagascar. This project is in addition to the 100 MW already under construction and which is projected to be completed by the end of 2025. Given the success of this first edition, both sides agreed to hold the business forum on a yearly basis, alternating between Dubai and Madagascar.