UAE to adopt policies for sustainable development
FDI in the country is estimated to have grown to $10.3b in 2017
The UAE must focus on trade and investment policies to achieve sustainable growth even as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rose, Economy Minister Sultan Al Mansouri said at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) yesterday.
The FDI in the UAE is estimated to have grown to $10.3 billion (Dh37.82 billion) in 2017, Al Mansouri told the delegates, quoting data from the central bank. FDI stood at $9.6 billion in 2016.
“... we should look more closely at regional economic and investment data. Development efforts, policies of economic diversification and the enhancement of productive capacities adopted by a number of countries in the region have resulted in the continuation of positive expectations in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rates,” Al Mansouri said.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, along with Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, opened the Annual Investment meeting 2018.
The three-day AIM conference is attended by 25 federal ministers, 19 mayors, eight organisation heads, one head of parliament and thousands of investors from 140 countries and will discuss about the foreign investments.
“We will continue our drive to further our integration into the global economy through the free cross-border flows of trade, investment, people and ideas,” Sami Al Qamzi, Director General, Department of Economic Development — Dubai said.
The increased flows in FDI will reflect on the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is expected to grow at 3.9 per cent in 2018.
The UAE is set to maintain its lead in attracting the highest amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Arab world, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the country’s economy minister, told delegates at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai yesterday.
The UAE was the recipient of $9 billion (Dh33.06 billion) in FDI in 2016, followed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which received $8.1 billion and $7.45 billion respectively, according to WAM.
In all, Arab countries saw an influx of $30.8 billion worth of FDI in 2016, a 25 per cent increase year-on-year.
“The UAE continued to attract sizeable levels of FDI... This is due to the federal and local government authorities’ efforts to facilitate [an attractive] investment environment,” Al Mansouri told the forum.
“Developing Asia remains a formidable economic force on the world stage and has regained its position as the largest FDI recipient region in the world, followed by the European Union and North America,” Al Mansouri said.
Global FDI fell by 16 per cent in 2017 to an estimated $1.52 trillion (Dh5.58 trillion), according to a body which belongs to the United Nations. However, developing economies maintained stable rates compared to last year.
“It becomes critical to address some of the major FDI issues facing [by] both developed and developing countries, not only for strengthening investment but to serve our efforts to direct the investment movement on a positive path serving the global economic growth,” Al Mansouri added.
Protectionism
World merchandise exports, valued at $15.46 trillion in 2016, are expected to grow this year as the global economy is forecast to hit 3.9 per cent growth in 2018.
A slowdown in trade liberalisation, an uptick in protectionism, and the risk of further reversals have been a drag on trade, investment, and growth, even as restrictive measures continue to rise.
“Although there are now signs of [a] fragile recovery, trade volumes grew by an annual average of less than 3 per cent in the eight years after the financial crisis — barely the rate of GDP growth — while FDI flows have yet to return to their pre-crisis levels,” Yonov Frederick Agah, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said.
“This slowdown of global trade and investment should be deeply worrying for all economies, but especially for small and developing ones.”
The WTO has been working towards increasing global trade flows by $1 trillion annually. This was followed in 2015 by the Information Technology Agreement expansion deal — which covers 201 products with an annual export value of $1.3 trillion — and by the agreement to ban all forms of agricultural export subsidies.
“But progress like this is possible only when we recognise that the world economy has never been more interdependent; that no country, even the most powerful, can solve its trade and investment challenges on its own; and that the answers lies in more, not less, global cooperation,” Agah added.