Dubai: The inaugural UAE Economic Forum with the theme of ‘The UAE Enterprising Economy: Resilience, Growth & Prosperity’ a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Economy and all economic departments across the UAE on Wednesday reviewed the economic strategies and prospects of the UAE and individual emirates.

The Forum attended by Shaikh Mansoor bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), top federal government officials and decision makers from the economic departments of various emirates reviewed the current economic conditions and policy measures required to accelerate and sustain economic growth in the country.

“At a time when many analysts are growing anxious about increasing uncertainty in the global economic scene, Dubai is witnessing economic growth supported by the insightful vision of the leadership and its directives that the emirate be a free and open economy and a magnet for local and foreign investments. It has also enabled us to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development based on innovation and high productivity, which balances the needs of the present and the future,” said Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy.

The latest studies conducted by Dubai Economy revealed that Dubai’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 2.1 per cent in 2019, 3.2 per cent in 2020, and 3 per cent in 2021 in light of external factors and the expected positive repercussions of the strategic initiatives launched by the Government of Dubai and the UAE, including launching long term residency to attract talent in all vital sectors of the national economy, 100 per cent ownership offered to foreign investors, and hosting Expo 2020, for which the Government of Dubai has launched major infrastructure projects.

Diversification efforts

Amid growing efforts of diversify GCC economies in the context of oil price volatility, the UAE has emerged leader in economic diversification with non-oil sectors contributing more than 70 per cent of UAE’s GDP.

“Our vision for the future is optimistic, and through the pillars of the UAE vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071, we work hard to achieve the goals of the country in the near term and formulate strategies for the mid-to-longer term. The UAE under its pragmatic leadership is keeping pace with future trends and embracing advance technology to be in the forefront of the digital transformation happening worldwide,” said Engineer Mohammad Al Shehhi, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Economy.

Discussions and dialogue sessions at the event were centred around consolidating efforts towards achieving the goal set in the UAE National Agenda to make the country one of the most innovative in the world by 2021 amid global and regional economic and geopolitical events are impacting the growth outlook.

“The ‘UAE Economic Forum’ marks the beginning of a unified interactive economic platform at the national level and added that Abu Dhabi hosting the next forum in 2020 will further enhance integration between national initiatives and strategic plans of the seven emirates as well as contribute to achieving economic interdependence in the UAE,” said Mohammad Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department of Economic Development, Abu Dhabi.

The real GDP of Abu Dhabi grew by 1.9 per cent to reach more than Dh797 billion by the end of 2018 and is expected to maintain growth momentum supported by non-oil sectors. The economy in Abu Dhabi is expected to continue its positive path to achieve a real growth rate exceeding 2 per cent by the end of 2019, supported by a positive momentum within the overall non-oil economic activities that are expected to grow at a rate of approximately 1.8 per cent at constant prices by the end of this year.

“The emirate’s strategy to expand the production base and diversify income sources is successfully going in line with the long-term goals of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 203,” said Al Shorafa.