UAE economy hits the highest note

The UAE is one of the most dynamic and open economies in the world, its economy minister H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori told delegates at the Global Trade Development Week gathering in Dubai.

He said, “This event comes at a momentous time, a time when the UAE has proved itself to be the leading regional and international trade hub that provides fast access for multinationals, SMEs and family businesses to reach all corners of the globe.

“Having mentioned that, let me seize the opportunity by going through some facts of economic developments in the UAE:

• The UAE has one of the most open and dynamic economies in the world reflecting the policy of openness in economic and trade relations as a means of economic growth. The percentage of the UAE’s economic openness has reached 173 per cent. The macroeconomic outlook is positive and growth is expected at 4.8 per cent in 2014 and about 4.5 per cent in coming years, supported by a number of mega-projects announced over the past 18 months and the successful bid for the World Expo 2020. GDP in 2013 was $402bn. The accumulated foreign direct investments stock in the UAE by the end of 2013 reached $105.5bn, while the UAE accumulated investments abroad by the end of the same year amounted to $63bn.
• While ensuring the economic diversification to spur the economy further, The UAE has already set into motion a strategy to reduce the dependence on oil to 10 per cent in the future. We are already pursuing several lucrative areas of economic activity such as tourism, space exploration, and alternative energy in accordance with the goals set in the country’s Vision 2021, which is our roadmap for the next seven years in an effort to promote trade and investment whilst building a knowledge-based economy and investing in human capacity and capital to sustain a variety of programmes across various sectors.
• The UAE economy was ranked the highest rated in the Arab world after it leapt seven places to 12th in the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Index of 144 countries.
• These trends clearly indicate that growth will continue to rise over the next several years as the UAE continues to meet its economic development diversification targets.