it’s advantage uae
Global competitiveness will be more and more defined by the innovative capacity of a country Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum
The economic diversification strategies of the UAE have started to pay off Mohan Valrani, senior vice-chairman of the Al Shirawi Group
DUBAI — THE UAE REMAINS THE MOST COMPETITIVE ECONOMY IN THE ARAB WORLD, AND RANKS 17TH IN THE WORLD ON THE BACK OF A RESILIENT AND DIVERSIFIED ECONOMY COUPLED WITH ITS “ABILITY TO WEATHER THE DOUBLE SHOCK” OF LOWER OIL AND GAS PRICES AND REDUCED GLOBAL TRADE, THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM SAID. DATA FROM THE WEF’S GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2017-2018, PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY, SHOWS THAT IN THE ARAB WORLD, THE UAE IS FOLLOWED BY QATAR AND SAUDI ARABIA, RANKED 25TH AND 30TH RESPECTIVELY IN COMPETITIVENESS.
“THE UAE IMPROVES ITS ABSOLUTE ASSESSMENT AND CONTINUES TO LEAD THE ARAB WORLD IN TERMS OF COMPETITIVENESS, BUT IT LOSES ONE PLACE AS OTHER COUNTRIES POST EVEN LARGER GAINS,” SAID THE WIDELY RESPECTED REPORT, AN ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF THE FACTORS DRIVING COUNTRIES’ PRODUCTIVITY AND PROSPERITY.
“THIS IMPROVEMENT SHOWS THE RESILIENCE OF THE UAE ECONOMY, IN PART DUE TO INCREASED DIVERSIFICATION, WHICH IS REFLECTED IN ITS STABLE MACROECONOMIC
environment and its ability to weather the double shock of lower oil and gas prices and reduced global trade,” the Geneva-based nonprofit foundation said.
“Global competitiveness will be more and more defined by the innovative capacity of a country. Talents will become increasingly more important than capital and therefore the world is moving from the age of capitalism into the age of talentism. Countries preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and simultaneously strengthening their political, economic and social systems will be the winners in the competitive race of the future,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.
“The UAE has been leading the Arab world through its exemplary drive for innovation, reforms and competitiveness for more than three decades. The economic diversification strategies of the country has started to pay off as the Emirates’ overall economic prospects remain unfazed by the oil price plunge and other global headwinds,” said Mohan Valrani, a long- time resident industrialist of the UAE, and senior vice-chairman and managing director of the Al Shirawi Group.
Although the International Monetary Fund predicts GDP growth to drop to 1.3 per cent this year, non-oil growth is expected to pick up, suggesting that the country’s diversification strategy is bearing fruit., WEF report said.
Across various parameters, the UAE claimed number one position. These include efficiency in government spending, quality of roads, inflation control, effect of taxation on incentives to invest, capacity to attract talent, mobile-broadband subscription, and government’s procurement of advanced technology products.
“Ten years on from the global financial crisis, the prospects for a sustained economic recovery remain at risk due to a widespread failure on the part of leaders and policy-makers to put in place reforms necessary to underpin competitiveness and bring about much-needed increases in productivity,” said the report.
— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com