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Sheikh Mohammed lauds UAE for defying trend in FDI inflows

Dubai - Foreign direct investment into the country leapt 44.2 per cent to Dh73 billion.

The UAE economy proved its resilience and reliability in pandemic-stricken 2020 as foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country leapt 44.2 per cent to Dh73 billion ($19.88 billion) — handily beating global forecasts for a grim economic year — with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) playing a major role in attracting more inflows.

The healthy year-on-year increase overshadows the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s estimate that total global FDI inflows would plunge 42 per cent amid coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdowns that halted economic engines and societies.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, praised the performance. The nation’s leadership continuously rolled out robust and proactive responses — most notably business-friendly measures and a massive vaccination programme — to counter the pandemic’s ill-effects, helping the economy get up and running at the soonest. “Good crisis management is a guaranteed investment,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted.

The cumulative balance of FDI inflows grew to Dh639.1 billion, an increase of 12.9 per cent during the same period. While FDI had covered all key segments, the oil and gas sector was the busiest, with Adnoc spearheading a number of big investment deals and partnerships that will help its so-called in-country value strategy.

Investments were focused primarily on technology, covering game-changing sectors from emerging innovations to medicine and energy to agriculture.

UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Mari said that the nation’s investment and economic scene has “succeeded in achieving an advanced position” in the world, aside from being tops in the region.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, added that the position the country enjoys in global indicators to attract FDI was “not a coincidence”, but the product of a “clear vision” adopted by the leadership.

Emirati outflows overseas, meanwhile, reached $9.2 billion last year, also spanning across sectors that give high value for investments and are sustainable.

— alvin@khaleejtimes.com