Hamdan Bin Mohammad: Dubai closing the gap with the world’s most competitive economies

Dubai

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council, on Saturday said Dubais rising global rankings in a range of economic indicators show that it is closing the gap with the worlds most competitive economies.

Sheikh Hamdan said that Dubais achievements in global competitiveness, especially in the Economic Performance Pillar, have been driven by the strategy it has adopted over the last few decades.

Dubai ranks first in the Arab world and fourth worldwide in Economic Performance Pillar, ahead of Canada, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, and all EU countries (excluding Luxembourg), according to the Dubai Competitiveness Report 2018 by the Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Centre in cooperation with the Dubai Competitiveness Office of the Department of Economic Development (DED).

Dubai ranks first globally in both gross domestic savings (percentage of GDP) and employment growth, and second in exports of goods (percentage of GDP), low unemployment rate and youth unemployment. Dubai also ranks third globally in employment (per cent), exchange rates, export concentration by partner, and exports of goods per capita in addition to being fourth in terms of both GDP per capita (by purchasing power parity — ppp) and tourism receipts (as per cent of GDP).

Within the Arab world, Dubai leads on several indicators such as direct investment flows inward, forecast inflation, government consumption expenditure — real growth, export concentration by partner, and tourism receipts.

The report shows that Dubai ranked first among Arab countries and ninth globally in Direct Investment Flows Inward (6.42 per cent of GDP) with a stock of $73.8 billion, ahead of the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, France and China.

The emirate also ranked second in the Arab world and 12th globally in Foreign Direct Investment Abroad (4.51 per cent of GDP) with a total stock of $28.8 billion.

Diversified economy

Dubai developed not because of hydrocarbons; oil and gas now account for less than two per cent of Dubais GDP, around half of its share in the 1980s. Economic diversification, underpinned by remarkable performance across strategic sectors, contributed to 72.2 per cent of the total economic growth achieved in 2017. Thus, Dubai is ranked eighth in the world for Diversification of The Economy, ahead of developed economies like Switzerland, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.