Ferid Belhaj was appointed as the Vice President of World Bank Group for Middle East and North Africa on July 1, 2018. According to a statement made by Ferid Belhaj World Bank Group is committed to continue to support all countries in the Middle East and North Africa with reforms that will strengthen transparency, fair competition and good governance to make the region open for business and attract investments from all across the globe.
In a report published by World Bank Group on Ease of Doing Business, United Arab Emirates has been regarded as one of the 20 best countries to start a business in 2020. The index for ease of doing business is 80.9/100 as declared by the report. Major reforms have been implemented in the protection and strengthening of the rights of the minority investors, business registration process has been made easier and regulations with regards to imports and exports of goods have been made convenient for the investors in the United Arab Emirates.
The 6 reasons why the UAE is an attractive option for Entrepreneurs may be discussed as follows:
- Ease of Doing Business
Ease of doing business is the most important factor that actually encourages broad-based growth. It encompasses all the 12 areas of a business viz. 1) Registration of a business, 2) Procedures for obtaining construction permits, 3) Availing electricity, 4) Registration of property and property rights, 5) Availing credit facilities from banks and local institutions, 6) Protection of minority investors, 7) Rules of taxation & paying of taxes, 8) Imports & Exports, 9) Enforcing contracts between entities, 10) resolving insolvency if required, 11) Employment of workers and labor laws, and 12) contracting with the government. United Arab Emirates has always been a pioneer in making reforms in the regulations related to the above mentioned 12 areas to make it convenient for business investors. Among the entire gulf countries United Arab Emirates still stands at the top and continues to be in the priority list of the investors.
- Expo 2020
Expo 2020 is a World Expo to be hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, starting from 20th of October 2020. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris awarded Dubai as the host on November 27, 2013. Representatives from almost the whole world will gather in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and discuss the measures against global issues, which will be a great opportunity to find solutions for universal problems. Dubai Expo 2020 aims at connecting Minds and creating The Future. This speaks about the Global exposure that Dubai; United Arab Emirates is going to get in 2020 and ahead. It also speaks about its ambitious economic perspectives.
It has been estimated that the contribution of Dubai Expo 2020 towards the economy of the United Arab Emirates will be almost equivalent to $33.4 Billion USD till 2031. This is an additional growth to the economy of United Arab Emirates in addition to the Present GDP of $414. 18 Billion USD that is also on the growth side by side. This accounts for an additional GDP growth of almost 1.5 % making it a total of around 3.7% , much higher compared to that of the US, the World’s largest economy being 2.3%.
It has been anticipated that the measure of the value of goods and services accrued from Dubai Expo 2020 would be around $28 Billion USD generating thousands of jobs and stimulating investments.
The surge in business due to Dubai Expo 2020 will create 49,700 jobs per annum on average and around 94,400 during the event.
- Law and Order
Every investor would like to invest in a country that has law and order in place. No investor would like to invest in a country that is chaotic and has a weak and feeble legal system. They need their rights to be protected by the law and order of the land.
Moreover, the growth of an economy not only depends upon the economic factors but also on the citizens’ trust in the institutions. The wide differences in levels of growth rates of per capita across countries can be well explained as a result of differences between public policies and institutions across countries. The legal and judicial system of a country plays a significant role and has a great impact on its economic performance.
United Arab Emirates is the most trusted destination when it comes to law and order. The efficiency of economic and justice system of United Arab Emirates is a benchmark for many other countries. In addition to specific legal legislation covering agencies, company law, labor law, and intellectual property, the UAE has enacted civil and commercial codes that are in favor of the foreign investors in the country.
- GDP per Capita
United Arab Emirates has a high value of GDP per capita. GDP per capita of United Arab Emirates as per the latest update made in December 2019 is $40782.40 USD. The economy of United Arab Emirates is commodity-based economy, oil and gas exports accounts for only 40% of the exports and 38% of the GDP value of $414. 18 Billion USD. The GDP of United Arab Emirates is much higher compared to that of New Zealand ($211 Billion USD), Singapore ($313 Billion USD), Hong Kong ($339 Billion USD), Denmark ($324.9 Billion USD), Georgia ($15.16 Billion USD), Norway ($399 Billion USD) and other Lithuania ($47.17 Billion USD), Malaysia ($314.5 Billion USD), Mauritius ($13.34 Billion USD) and many other economies.
The economy of United Arab Emirates is not all based upon oil and gas exports, huge progress has been made in the tourism, financial, construction and miscellaneous sectors.
- Cultural Diversity
There is a direct connection between cultural diversity and economic growth. Cultural diversity is an asset by itself for the growth of economy of any region if there is no identitarian closure and conflict among the diverse cultural groups. United States is an interesting case study of how cultural diversity contributed to the economy and positively affected national production making it the biggest economy on Earth with a GDP of $5,385,526 million.
United Arab Emirates is home to over 200 nationalities making 80% of the total population of 9.77 Million. The mercantile multiculturalism made United Arab Emirates the hub of business today. There is a peaceful co-existence of all ethnicities and nationalities. There is a huge business that happens from the cross-cultural trading of goods and services.
Professional translation services company in dubai have paved the way to effective communication between various language speaking groups. Translation & Interpretation companies in United Arab Emirates work in hand to hand with the business entities to bridge the gap of language differences to promote business and the economy and its significant role in business development in such a multilingual community is worth mentioning here.
- Infrastructure
A larger stock of infrastructure of a country fuels its economic growth by reducing the cost of production and transport of goods and services, increasing the productivity of input factors, creating indirect positive externalities, and smoothing the business cycle.
Being a global aviation and logistics hub, Dubai continues to develop world-class infrastructure to support growing international, In 2016, Dubai International Airport solidified its position as the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic. Dubai is going to design and deliver itself as ‘A Smart & Sustainable City’ by 2021. ’ The plan focuses on building fully-connected and integrated infrastructure which ensures optimum mobility and easy access to all economic centers and social services, in line with the world’s best cities. It has the world- leading infrastructure in aviation, surface transport, state-of-the-art telecommunications, sophisticated financial and service sector, industry leading exhibition and conference venues, world class residential and commercial accommodation, 24 hours reliable Power and Water Utilities, First-class hotels, hospitals, schools, shops, parks and recreation facilities.