Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (WAM)
The UAE Government Annual Meetings 2025 hosted the Economic Data Retreat, a specialised strategic retreat which aims to formulate advanced national approaches to managing economic data, as well as enhance the UAE’s readiness to keep up with rapid global shifts in AI, digital transformation, and big data.
The retreat, which hosted three different sessions, brought together ministers and heads of economic, regulatory, financial and tech entities, as well as representatives of Digital Transformation Councils from across the UAE.
The Economic Data Retreat is strategically timed to underscore the importance of creating a smart, integrated ecosystem of national data, capable of keeping up with global shifts and enhancing the UAE’s competitiveness in digital economy, investment and data-driven planning. The retreat is a key step toward establishing the UAE’s leadership in adopting smart policies, utilising data as a strategic decision-making tool to achieve sustainable development and enhance the nation’s future readiness.
The first session titled ‘The Unified Procurement of Big Data: Standardising Federal and Local Contracts’, was led by Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs.
The session discussed the pivotal role of big data in supporting policies and decision making, and highlighted the need to increase the efficiency of the government data procurement system to improve data quality and accuracy, facilitate secure data exchange among entities, and ensure its effective utilisation to support future plans and national policies.
Participants emphasised that launching a unified national model to coordinate government procurement of big data is a strategic step toward identifying federal and local data needs, and unifying procurement efforts on a national level, leading to reduced costs, increased efficiency and accelerated data access.
Mohamed Al Hussaini explained that the UAE government, guided by its leadership, is prioritising big data as a cornerstone of the nation’s competitive and digital economy future. He noted that the goal is to build an integrated, real-time national economic data system. This system will provide decision-makers across all sectors with a reliable, instant flow of data, which is key to accelerating smart developmental planning and enabling effective public policies.
The second session, titled ‘National Integration of Inbound and Outbound Investment Data’, was led by Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment.
The session discussed the importance of creating an integrated national system for investment data that contributes to increased data accuracy and reliability, while supporting the UAE’s ability to measure the economic and social impact of investments.
Mohamed Alsuwaidi said, “In a highly competitive world vying for quality capital, the UAE continues to solidify its status as a leading global destination for investment, while focusing on measuring investment impact in terms of creating jobs, transferring knowledge and supporting vital sectors. Such efforts help promote sustainable development and underscore the competitiveness of our national economy.”
The third session, titled ‘Toward a Unified Smart National Statistics System’ was led by Maryam bint Ahmed Al Hammadi, Minister of State, Secretary-General of the UAE Cabinet and the General Supervisor of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC).
The session discussed challenges facing the national statistics system, and how to ensure the integration and readiness of data sources and their governance standards cohesion.
The session also discussed plans toward establishing a unified smart national statistics system, and approving the development of a regulatory policies package. Such measures help enhance the reliability of national data, and support the accelerated adoption of AI in planning and general policy making.
Maryam bint Ahmed Al Hammadi said, “Building a unified smart national statistics system is essential for transforming the availability and integration of data in real time to bolster the UAE’s competitiveness and accelerate its development plans.”
She added, “The Economic Data Retreat reflects the UAE Government’s vision for advancing to the next phase of statistics integration by developing innovative policies, ensuring that national data is accurate, up-to-date, and accessible to support decision making and future foresight.”
