MUSTAFA ABDUL AZIM (DUBAI)
In 2023, the UAE solidified its standing as a global economic force, securing a spot among the top ten nations in over 74 international rankings across economic, financial, and digital domains. The country has ascended to a position of global prominence in numerous key aspects highlighted in competitiveness assessments by leading international institutions dedicated to measuring economic prosperity and the competitive prowess of nations.
Data form the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre revealed that the UAE has achieved a first-place ranking globally in 21 competitive indicators. These indicators span a diverse range of sectors including economy, trade, investment, national accounts, tourism, digital economy, and infrastructure. In the 2023 editions of major global competitiveness reports, the UAE has been notably recognised. The World Competitiveness Center, associated with the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, placed the UAE tenth in its annual Global Competitiveness Report, categorising it among the world’s most competitive economies. Additionally, the country has secured prominent positions in several other esteemed reports, including the Global Prosperity Index by the Legatum Institute, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index by INSEAD, the Global Innovation Index by the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the Global Digital Competitiveness Report.
Despite the past year’s global economic challenges and the downturn experienced by many economies, the UAE has continued to enhance its economic competitiveness, securing a position among the world’s top ten nations. This achievement is a testament to the UAE’s robust economic performance, effective local policies, and its successful efforts in diversifying the economy, developing a dynamic job market, fostering innovation, and ensuring employment opportunities for all.
The UAE leads globally in areas such as international trade, growth in household consumption expenditure, growth in gross fixed capital formation, freedom in foreign trade, adaptability of government policies, city management, quality of air transport, the number of internet users, wireless broadband subscriptions per 100 people, 3G network coverage, energy infrastructure, minimal bureaucracy, freedom to own foreign currency bank accounts, low government spending, financial openness, low personal income tax collection, government budget balance as a percentage of GDP, taxes and bureaucracy, and ease of tax payment.
Additionally, the UAE ranks second globally in critical areas like basic infrastructure, employment rates, goods exports, tourist spending, immigration laws, labour force percentage and working hours, attitudes towards globalisation, absence of tax evasion, cost of capital, access to finance for SMEs, mobile phone access, and efficiency in customs clearance with technical inspection.
The country secured the third and fourth positions globally in several indicators, notably local economy, tax policy, trade-to-GDP ratio, population growth, international image, economic blocs and their development status, trade-to-GDP ratio, and commodity exports per capita. Additionally, it excelled in real short-term interest rates, public fund transfers, and total government debt (real growth).
In the fifth to tenth positions globally, the UAE performed well in indicators related to employment, labour market, attitudes, and values. These include low unemployment rates, individual share of GDP, credit availability, low non-tariff barrier prevalence, total factor productivity (actual purchasing power parity) - actual growth, industrial productivity index (purchasing power parity), infrastructure for goods and services distribution, and road quality.
The Logistics Performance Index for 2023, a biannual report issued by the World Bank to assess countries’ ability to swiftly and reliably transport goods internationally, ranked the UAE seventh globally overall. The country achieved the fourth globally in international shipping efficiency, timeliness, and international shipments, and ninth in trade and transport infrastructure.
The seventh edition of the report, titled “Connecting to Compete,” shows the UAE playing a pivotal role in the global logistics sector, showcasing exceptional capabilities in providing top-notch logistic services and infrastructure in the country’s trade, transport, and border controls. This achievement comes after three years of unprecedented disruptions in supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Logistics Performance Index, covering 139 countries, measures the country’s rank in the quality of logistics sector infrastructure based on opinion surveys about performance in six areas. These areas include customs and border management in clearance speed and simplicity, trade quality and transport infrastructure, ease of arranging competitive-rate shipments, efficiency and quality of logistic services, ability to track shipments, and timely and accurate arrival of shipments.
In the 2023 Review of Maritime Transport by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UAE ranked first in the Middle East, 13th globally, in fleet strength. The report also ranked the UAE fourth globally among the top 30 economies in ship handling speed and dry bulk cargo handling via bulk carriers. The country secured the sixth position in the cargo and ship handling performance index concerning ship arrivals and average value.
The UAE continued to advance in global competitiveness by joining the list of the top 10 on the Global Soft Power Index produced by the UK’s Brand Finance Foundation, making it the first Middle Eastern country to achieve this distinction. The country made significant progress in the index, rising to the eighth position globally in the influence axis and ninth in the international relations axis. It also secured the third position globally in both future growth potential as well as on the “generosity” index. The index is based on the opinions of over 100,000 people from 100 countries evaluating various aspects of soft power and positive impact across 121 countries worldwide.