Business Chief US and Canada January 2023 | Page 11

When His Excellency Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri , UAE Minister of Economy ( pictured ), took to the Gitex Global stage in Dubai in October last year to present the UAE ’ s business case for investment , Dubai had just retained its position as the world ’ s top destination for foreign direct investment projects in the first half of 2022 – marking a staggering 80.2 % year-on-year jump .
In fact , the UAE experienced one of the fastest recoveries from the Covid-19 pandemic with foreign trade surpassing AED 1 trillion in the first half of 2022 , and the UAE expecting 6.5 % GDP growth by the end of 2022 , including a rise of 4.3 % for the non-oil sector .
His Excellency said the “ fuel ” for any economy is talent , and that the UAE is making “ huge ” investments in R & D and supporting talent development through its focus on science and technology .
The UAE is expected to be the fastestgrowing economy in the Arabian Gulf in 2023 , according to the latest projections from the IMF – and is expected to grow 4.2 % outpacing Saudi Arabia ( 3.7 %) and Qatar ( 2.4 %). businesschief . com 11