UAE eyes $70 billion industrial investments by 2025

abu dhabi — The UAE seeks to attract more than $70 billion in industrial investments by 2025 in response to directives from His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, a senior government official said on Monday.

This will help increase the share of the industrial sector in the country’s GDP to 25 per cent, up from the current 16 per cent, thus ensuring that the sector will become the driving force in the country’s economic growth in the future, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, said in a statement to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

According to him, the slump in global oil prices has not had had any significant impact on the UAE’s development as the share of non-oil sectors in the country’s economy stands at 69 per cent of GDP and the limited impact of oil was further evidenced by the Cabinet’s recent approval of the new budget.

Late last month, the cabinet approved an Dh248 billion federal budget for the next five years, with the prime focus on education, social development and health, as the country bucks the regional purse-tightening trend.

The budget for the next year was set at Dh48.7 billion.

“The UAE’s vision for the future revolves around a sustainable and innovation-based and knowledge-based economy in which qualified human resources play a major role. There are indicators that it is preparing for a significant industrial progress in the coming period, thanks to a higher degree of integration between national industrial companies and the development of new industrial sectors featuring innovation and the use of modern technology,” he said.

The emirate of Abu Dhabi is planning to launch its own industrial strategy later this year, the minister said, and noted that in June, Dubai launched the 2030 Dubai Industrial Strategy, aiming to evolve into a global platform for knowledge-based, sustainable and innovation-focussed businesses.