Dubai Attracts FDI Worth AED38.5 Billion in 2018
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, expressed his happiness at Dubai’s number one ranking globally among the ‘Top fDi Performers 2018’.
His Highness termed the achievement “a precursor to Dubai’s future achievements.”
Dubai’s top FDI ranking follows the city being featured among the best performers in reports like the Global Cities of the Future; Digital Economies of the Future; Aerospace Locations of the Future; and top global free zones of the year.
The ‘Top fDi Performers 2018,’ published by the Financial Times ‘fDi Intelligence’ magazine is based on data compiled by ‘fDi Markets’, the world’s leading online platform that monitors capital flows and new FDI projects.
The report highlighted that Dubai has dominated global FDI rankings throughout 2018, followed by London, Paris, Dublin and Singapore.
Sheikh Hamdan emphasised that the latest achievements revealed in the annual ‘DUBAI FDI Results & Rankings Report 2018’ of the Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai.
The results reflect global investors’ continued confidence in Dubai’s ability to sustain economic growth, and further boosts its global leadership. The first rank is a precursor to Dubai’s future achievements, His Highness added.
Sheikh Hamdan said: “We are proud to announce the latest results of FDI capital inflows in 2018, which has reached AED 38.5 billion, a growth of 41% over 2017, taking Dubai to the sixth place from 10th in global capital flows into greenfield projects.
Dubai has also attracted 523 FDI projects in 2018, an increase of 43% over 2017, elevating the emirate’s global ranking in the number of new investment projects to third from fourth.”
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Sheikh Hamdan stated that Dubai’s continued achievements in FDI are the result of the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who laid the foundations for a world-class investment ecosystem in Dubai.
FDI plays a central role in the transfer of knowledge and technology as well as in attracting global talent.
These are the pillars supporting the emirate in achieving its goals set in the Dubai Plan 2021 and the 50-Year Charter aimed at strengthening Dubai’s position as a pivotal hub in the global economy, said Sheikh Hamdan.
His Highness commended the initiatives of Dubai FDI which helped improve the emirate’s investment ecosystem, highlighting the role of ‘Dubai FDI Monitor,’ the FDI open data platform which provides the latest information and data round the clock.
His Highness said: “Dubai FDI Monitor is a testament to Dubai’s commitment to enhance competitiveness and transparency of the emirate’s investment ecosystem, using innovative technologies and services to serve the global investor community.”
His Excellency Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED, hailed Dubai’s success in achieving record levels of FDI inflows despite global FDI flows declining by 19% in 2018 as reported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Al Qamzi said the achievement reflects the resilience, diversity and competitiveness of Dubai’s economy on a global scale.
He underscored that following the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emirate has continuously developed its investment ecosystem, offering new strategic advantages for investors and the business community.
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Al Qamzi noted that fDi Benchmark has clearly identified Dubai’s leading position and strong presence in all areas of investments in 2018.
Dubai has been ranked first globally among the top 20 cities for renewable energy investments between 2013-2018 and second globally in the ‘Global Cities of the Future 2018 – 2019’ report in terms of economic potential.
Dubai also ranked first among the top FDI cities in the ‘City FDI Performance Index,’ issued for the first time in 2018.
Al Qamzi said that the ‘DUBAI FDI Results & Rankings Report 2018’ has added a new index which monitors the contribution of FDI to job creation.
As per the index, about 25,000 new jobs were created in 2018, an increase of 77% compared to 14,065 jobs in 2017, effectively placing Dubai in ninth position globally in job creation through FDI.
Recent policies which support the role of investors, innovators, skilled professionals and students in building an innovation and knowledge-based economy for Dubai and the UAE further adds to Dubai’s attractiveness for the world's most promising talent.
Al Qamzi cited medium and high-tech FDI projects being a major tool in job creation, accounting for 28% of the jobs added in 2018.
Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), reiterated that the record results achieved by Dubai in 2018 reflect the vision of the leadership of Dubai and translates the emirate's strategic initiatives into milestones as reflected in the ‘DUBAI FDI Results & Rankings Report 2018.’
“The results and rankings speak volumes of Dubai’s transformation into a smart and sustainable city and a global hub for talent, innovation and entrepreneurship,” he added.
Al Gergawi further noted that Dubai has continued to advance to become the third most attractive location in the world for greenfield FDI projects and also promote the growth of FDI projects classified as New Forms of Investment (NFI).
NFI accounted for 28.9% of total investments in 2018, compared to 20.7% in 2017. He said that the data analysis provided by ‘Dubai FDI Monitor’ reveals the trends that are shaping future growth, while clearly indicating Dubai's success in attracting a large number of small and medium-sized investments with high levels of technology and innovation capacity.
Al Gergawi explained: “NFIs will enhance the emergence of mature domestic companies, development of emerging companies and new business models capable of boosting the transfer of knowledge and technology, attracting new talent and contributing to the transformation of Dubai into a knowledge-based economy.”
Al Gergawi said the ‘DUBAI FDI Results & Rankings Report 2018,’ showed that the number of FDI projects rose to 523 in 2018, a 43% increase compared to 367 projects in 2017.
In terms of FDI source markets, the ‘DUBAI FDI Results & Rankings Report 2018,’ showed that the United States retained its leading position in FDI capital flows to Dubai with a 37% share while India came second with 12%, followed by Spain (9%), China (7%) and the UK (5%).
Together, all the five countries accounted for 70% of total FDI capital inflows and 51% of FDI projects into Dubai in 2018.
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