Experts laud UAE leaders’ vision on economic resilience, jobs creation

The UAE continues to buck global trends on multiple fronts despite a raging pandemic and proves its economic resilience by handling crises through a leadership approach and out of the box solutions of challenges being faced by the world, experts say.

Referring to the UAE’s successful strategy to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, analysts, executives and corporate leaders said the emirate was one of the very few nations that opened their borders for travel and economy for business following a successful drive against the pandemic, resultantly creating thousands of jobs under challenging environment.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai also disclosed that the emirate created nearly 248,000 jobs last year when millions of people rendered jobless or unemployed due to global economic slowdown and pandemic.

“The world economy shrank 4 per cent, international trade dropped 20 per cent, and the world lost millions of jobs in 2020,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted.

“In the same year, the UAE economy created 100,000 jobs in retail sector and e-commerce and 148,000 jobs in the financial, technology and telecommunications sector. We repeat: Crisis management creates opportunities and management crises destroy gains,” said Sheikh Mohammed.

Experts laud leadership action

Analysts and executives echoed the similar views and paid rich tribute to the visionary and wise leadership of the UAE for crisis management and creating new business opportunities in the country.

“Commendable achievement, after initial set back due to an uncertainty on global front. The way the pandemic was managed boosted confidence amongst the business community, which contributed positively toward the economic growth and development,” Saad Maniar, senior partner at Crowe, told Khaleej Times on Saturday.

Also, he said the fact that Dubai is one of the better places to live and enjoy the lifestyle attracted many high net worth individuals to Dubai, which contributed towards the growth in job market.

Referring to the latest employment and hiring insights, human resource experts said corporate executives and private sector companies are taking a future-ready approach and increasingly recruiting talent that is specialising in digitalisation, risk management and finance consulting.

“The Covid-19 pandemic had undoubtedly hit several industries hard last year, but the job market is gradually reviving with the help of recent medical developments and constant safety measures,” said Ola Haddad, director of Human Resources at Bayt.com.

“While 2020 was a challenging year for professionals worldwide, 2021 is looking bright. The outlook looks promising for job seekers in the UAE in particular,” she said while referring to the job index survey conducted recently by Bayt.com.

The survey indicated that about 74 per cent of UAE employers intend to hire new people in the next year. Traditional retail, aviation, and tourism faced the biggest challenges in 2020 and they continue to innovate to navigate their way out of the crisis.

“Considering that the Nation executed the most well-thought-out plan to battle Covid-19, it is no surprise that while the world was downsizing, the UAE was out creating more jobs. If observed, one can see that every initiative that the country’s leadership takes is a piece of the path that is leading the UAE to becoming a global business hub,” said Lal Bhatia, chairman, Hilshaw Group.

Opportunity in every challenge

Atik Munshi, managing partner at Enterprise House, said opportunity is hidden in every challenge and this adage has proved more true for Dubai than the rest of the world.

“The numerous initiatives and drives starting with sanitation drive which was done on a war footing as soon Covid impact was known, the amazing vaccination initiative for the entire nation, Golden visa, changes in the companies law to allow 100 per cent foreign ownership, banking reforms, etc, have not just boosted investor confidence but reassured the business community that Dubai means business,” Munshi told Khaleej Times on Saturday.

“No wonder certain business sectors have shown growth particularly compared to their counterparts around the world. Such would obviously increase employment rates in those sectors. The real estate has shown very positive signs too and more international FDI is expected to flow,” he added.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com