UAE Second-Largest Recipient of FDI in Middle East

The total Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, of the UAE jumped to $117.9 billion in 2016, from $109 billion in 2015, a growth of 8.2 percent, according to recent reports.

According to the 2017 Global Investment Report published by the UN, the UAE is the second-largest FDI recipient in the Middle East and the 11th largest in Asia, with the UK, Japan and Hong Kong as main investors.

In 2016 alone, the UAE attracted $8.9 billion, a 1.7 percent increase on 2015. The bulk of the UAE's FDI is concentrated in retail and wholesale trading, real estate, insurance and manufacturing industry sectors.

"FDI can be used as a vehicle to achieve sustainable economic growth. In the UAE, we are continuously working to adopt policies and structures that will ultimately provide us with the right environment to not only be able to attract FDI, but also retain its positive effects and desired spillovers," Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, said. 

"It is now widely understood that sustainable development is not necessarily a consequence of FDI. In fact, FDI can have negative consequences on sustainable development, if the right policies and frameworks are not laid out accordingly."

The World Bank released its annual Doing Business Report 2018 that showed that the UAE jumped to position 21 out of 190 countries, advancing five positions from position 26 in the 2017 report. 

Al Bawaba Contribution Time: 07-Dec-2017 14:28 (GMT)
Al Bawaba Last Update Time: 07-Dec-2017 14:28 (GMT)