Sharjah received Dh5.97b FDI in 2017

EMIRATE ALSO ATTRACTED DOMESTIC INVESTMENTS WORTH DH32.7B

Sharjah attracted FDI inflows worth Dh5.97 billion ($1.62 billion) last year compared to Dh920 million in 2016 Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah), the investment promotion arm of the Sharjah government said at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) yesterday.

“Sharjah has witnessed a qualitative growth in FDI inflows in the past year, with 18 new businesses bringing in more than double the capital that was invested by 20 projects in 2016. These figures testify that Sharjah’s commitment to reinforcing positive perceptions of the emirate’s competitiveness as one of the top investment locations in the UAE and the larger Arab region,” said Mohammad Juma Al Musharrakh, CEO of Invest in Sharjah.

Invest in Sharjah identified top international investors in the emirate in 2017 as India, UK, USA, China and Saudi Arabia and reported that a total of $10.5 billion (Dh39 billion) was invested in different businesses last year, in 35 new ventures.

According to the UAE Federal Competitiveness Authority, as of December 2016 the total FDI stocks in Sharjah stood at Dh30 billion.

This reflects the growing investments Sharjah has been servicing across numerous sectors, most prominently its realestate and property sector.

Improved investment flows into the emirate have positively impacted the job market in Sharjah, which has reported 174 per cent growth in 2017 with the creation of 2,815 jobs compared to 1,025 in 2016.

More than 5,000 jobs were created in 2017 from all investments that came into Sharjah, including local, regional and international businesses.

“Sharjah’s trade practices and FDI policies have had a positive effect on productivity growth and job creation,” said Al Musharrkh.

High GDP growth

Sharjah reported five per cent growth in GDP in 2017 with major contributions from manufacturing industries such as construction, wholesale and retail, restaurants and hotels, real estate, and business services growing in the range of 6 to 9 per cent.

A total of 73,000 trade licences were issued in Sharjah during 2017, with an average growth of 2 per cent in comparison to that volume in 2016, as well as a growth of 27 per cent in total number of industrial licences issued,” said Mariam Nasser Al Suwaidi, Deputy Director of the Department of Industrial Affairs, Sharjah.

Improved economic growth was reflected in a visible growth in membership numbers of the Sharjah Chamber of commerce, growing by 7 per cent last year to reach 69,000 members.

“Trade has been a key driver in Sharjah’s FDI growth, where we issued a total of 105,061 certificate of origin across all our four branches, boosting investors’ trade activities both locally and internationally,” said Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.