UAE attracted maximum FDI projects in Arab world between 2003-2021

The UAE has received 41% of foreign direct investment (FDI) coming to Arab countries between 2003 and 2021, according to the 37th annual report on the investment climate in the Arab countries for 2022.

The Arab world received 14,433 projects during this period with a total capital expenditure (CAPEX) of $1.3 trillion. The number of FDI projects into the region rose by 37% and their CAPEX increased by 1%, between 2003 and 2021.

The Kuwait-based corporation further said that these projects have created approximately two million jobs in the region. The report was released by Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) on Thursday.

The report said that nearly 100 composite and sub-indicators issued by more than 20 international bodies showed a relative improvement in the situation of the Arab countries during 2021 in the set of economic performance indicators, stability in the set of indicators of sovereign assessments, measuring the risks of countries, and variation in the set of indicators of production factors.

Positive Reflections

The corporation’s Director-General Abdullah Ahmed Al-Sabeeh was quoted by the report as saying that the final result of changes in Arab settings in international indicators have positively reflected on FDIs into the region amid expectations of continuing growth during 2022.

He added that the number of foreign projects into the region rose by 15%, while their capex hiked by 86% to $21 billion during the first four months of this year, compared with the corresponding period of 2021.

He pointed out that Western Europe was the main investor in the region during 2021, while Saudi Arabia was the top investment destination in terms of CAPEX ($9.3 billion), while the UAE came first in terms of the number of projects (455).

Dhaman is a pioneer multinational organization that provides guarantee services against commercial and non-commercial risks. Established in April 1974 in Kuwait as the first multilateral investment guarantee provider in the world, Dhaman is owned by the governments of Arab states and four Arab financial institutions.

Al-Sabeeh said the final outcome of the changes in the position of Arab countries in international indicators reflected positively on incoming FDIs into the region, with expectations of continued growth in 2022.

Al-Sabeeh expected the continuation of growth in inter-Arab investment during 2022, especially after the number of inter-Arab investment projects increased by 20% to 134 projects, and the cost was at a rate of 55% to $6.6 billion during 2021.