KHALEEJ TIMES, Thursday October 22, 2020 / 5 , Rabi' al-awwal , 1442
UAE eyes zero oil in GDP
Emirates:
The UAE is aiming to become the first country in the world to achieve
zero contribution of oil in its GDP over the next 50 years, Minister of
State for Foreign Trade Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said.
"The UAE's trade and investment strategy is centered on economic diversification
and focuses on enhancing investment in industries such as communication,
blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics and genetics. We are also
initiating measures to strengthen our position as a regional leader in supplying
financial and logistical services and infrastructure for energy supply and other
services," Dr Al Zeyoudi said during his opening remarks on the second day of
the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).
He said increased partnership and cooperation within the government and with the
private sector will be key to achieve the objectives.
"For the UAE, foreign direct investment [FDI] has played a critical role in
economic growth. In 2019, the UAE was the largest recipient of FDI in the
region. Our policies and measures are in place, such as the FDI law enacted in
2018 to further open the UAE market to investors in certain sectors and
assurance of our positive list that allows greater foreign investment across
122 activities," he said, adding that the country was able to increase FDI value
by 52 per cent last year.
The UAE also came 16th in 190 countries in the World Bank's Ease of Doing
Business 2020 ranking, thanks to digitalisation strategies and promising
business regulatory environment provided by the UAE, he added.
The minister added that the UAE is continuing to refine and implement policies
that will maximise competitiveness, increase collaboration and provide
opportunities to facilitate trade and investment.
FDI recovery in 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global markets, creating new
challenges for trade and investment. According to the United Nations, global FDI
flows are estimated to decrease up to 40 per cent this year, driven well below
their value of $1.54 trillion in 2019.
"This will bring global FDI below $1 trillion for the first time since 2005.
Global FDI flows are expected to drop even further in 2021. We do expect to
start seeing markets recover only in 2022. The challenges ahead are enormous.
The UAE sees tremendous opportunities for government and business leaders to
work together for trade and investment to shape policies to create new
partnership, leverage new technologies and build a future global economy that is
more diverse, inclusive and sustainable," he added.
Dubai in top 3 FDI
cities
Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, said Dubai's policies and initiatives have
primed the city to attract investments into new and emerging sectors, among
which one of the most important is the digital economy that includes secure
communication networks, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, machine-to-machine
communication and other technologies of Industry 4.0.
"This is the reason Dubai was among the top 10 cities globally in attracting FDI
capital during the first half of 2020, and third in attracting greenfield FDI,"
he said.
Gil Amelio, chairman of Safe Dynamics and former CEO of Apple Computer,
said Dubai is known as a city of the future and an innovation hub in the Mena
region and around the globe.
"Dubai and the UAE have implemented an innovative and forward-thinking approach.
That's why we are also planning to launch other products that improve safety for
both workers and the public in the UAE in the near future," he added.
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