UAE’S STRONG SHOWING IN GLOBAL’ PASSPORT INDEX’ RANKINGS A VINDICATION OF ITS NATIONAL POLICIES: The UAE passport has emerged the biggest climber in the third quarter of this year in the latest ‘Passport Index’ of 199 countries that was released on Monday. The average global mobility score across all 199 states measured by the index is 89, based on a total of visa-free or visa-on-arrival access provided by countries. UAE has topped the index with a score of 152. Among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, UAE was the biggest gainer, climbing up four places to the top spot. This is a clear vindication of the people and business-friendly strategies adopted by the UAE leadership for decades. For a country that has always followed an open-door policy towards visitors and guests and welcomed the global business community with open arms, providing them with world-class facilities and infrastructure, the UAE is quite naturally among the most sought-after destinations on this planet for business, commerce, trade, tourism, health care and entertainment. The UAE’s ranking in the latest ‘Passport Index’ bears testimony to that. [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]
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