Team Blitz India
The UAE has moved up on Kearney’s 2024 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, jumping from 18th to eighth place as the Arab world’s second-largest economy continues to focus on diversifying its economy.
The UAE’s higher ranking is a clear reflection of its decisive push towards economic diversification, which has firmly cemented the UAE’s position as a magnet for global investment.
Kearney’s index is an annual survey of global business executives, which rates the markets likely to attract the most investment in the next three years.
The new ranking also reflects growing investor confidence driven by the UAE’s sustained track record of policy reform. The UAE’s economy has continued to grow amid government initiatives to diversify its economy away from oil with an emphasis on the growth of sectors such as manufacturing, tourism and technology.
The country’s economy is expected to grow by 4.2 per cent this year, according to the UAE Central Bank. The country posted record FDI of about 23 billion dollars in 2022.
The Emirates has also set an ambitious target of attracting Dh550 billion (150 billion dollars) in foreign investment by 2031 and ranking among the world’s top 10 in terms of attracting FDI, as part of its diversification strategy.
It is also signing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with a number of countries to grow trade and attract more investment. This year’s survey revealed investors’ preference for developed markets, which accounted for 17 of the 25 markets on the Index.
The kingdom, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is transforming its economy under its Vision 2030 diversification agenda.
It has been introducing initiatives and policy reforms that are aimed at cutting its dependence on oil revenue, broadening its non-oil economic base, boosting domestic industries and supporting the development of sectors including technology, property, tourism and infrastructure.
The survey results found investor optimism remains high and has the potential to grow even more in the next three years, with 88 per cent of respondents saying they were planning to increase their FDI in the next three years, 6 per cent more than last year.
Artificial intelligence is also expected to rise, with 64 per cent of respondents saying they expect their organisation to expand the use of AI in making investment decisions over the next three years.
