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UAE reaping fruits of visionary leadership's

forward-looking approach: Al Zeyoudi

ANI
22nd June 2024, 08:18 GMT+10
Abu Dhabi [UAE], June 22 (ANI/WAM): Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE's Minister of
State for Foreign Trade, said that the UAE continues to reap the rewards of its visionary
leadership's forward-looking approach through increased global trade and investment
openness.

"This is reflected in the record growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, which
surged by 35 per cent in 2023, despite the downward trend in global investment flows,
which declined by 2 per cent during the same year. Additionally, the UAE jumped five
places in one go to rank 11th globally in terms of its ability to attract FDI, according to
the World Investment Report 2024 released yesterday by the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)," Al Zeyoudi said.

"The figures in the report confirm that the UAE is continuing to move in the right
direction to strengthen its position as a preferred global destination for foreign investors
seeking a growth-stimulating business environment and a haven for ambitious
entrepreneurs and creative thinkers seeking to transform their ideas and aspirations into
tangible reality under the qualitative privileges provided by the State through its world-
class infrastructure, flexible legislation and advanced technology, and its initiatives that
stimulate business in various sectors and economic activities," he added.

The minister cited in this regard the NextGenFDI initiative, the first integrated package
to facilitate company formation and offer banking, visa and real estate services in a
streamlined manner through a whole-of-government approach.

He also pointed to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA)
programme that the UAE has been implementing since the end of 2021, and under
which the UAE has concluded agreements with countries of strategic investment and
trade importance on the map of the global economy, to stimulate trade and investment
flows between promising markets with about a quarter of the world's population."He
added: "The value of foreign direct investment that the UAE was able to attract in 2023,
amounting to USD 30.7 billion, is equivalent to about three times that of its closest
competitors in the Middle East. And therefore the country has been able to maintain its
top position as the most attractive country for investment in the Arab world and
regionally with a clear superiority, where it accounted for 45.4 per cent of the total FDI
inflows to the Arab countries amounting to USD 67.6 billion, and 47.1 per cent of the
total inflows to West Asia amounting to USD 65.2 billion, and also about 38.6 per cent of
the total foreign direct investment inflows to the Middle East and North Africa region
amounting to USD 79.5 billion in 2023."Al Zeyoudi pointed out that the UNCTAD data

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