Foreign direct investments into Dubai rose more than 41 per cent in 2018, propelling the emirate to the top among FDI destinations in the Middle East and North Africa, and improving its global ranking by four positions.
The commercial and trading hub of the Middle East received Dh38.5 billion in terms of FDI capital last year, against Dh27.3bn recorded in 2017 and Dh25.5bn a year earlier. This is the first time the emirate has achieved total FDI capital in excess of US$10bn in a financial year, said Fahad Al Gergawi, chief executive of Dubai FDI, the government body responsible for the promotion of foreign investments in the emirate.
“There is a big jump that Dubai achieved last year”, which is an indication of the readiness of Dubai’s investment ecosystem, offering growth opportunities from start-ups to global conglomerates, Mr Al Gergawi told a press conference in Dubai on Sunday.
The surge in capital flows to the emirate has also helped Dubai’s global ranking in terms of FDI inflows to rise to sixth position, he said, citing fDi Markets data.
Dubai last year also proved itself to be one of the most attractive destination for global talent. Foreign investments resulted in about 25,000 new jobs in the emirate, putting it ninth in the ranking of countries creating jobs through FDI, according to FDI Monitor figures, a Dubai FDI portal that tracks and analyses investment data.
