São Paulo – The United Arab Emirates received US$ 544.5 billion, equivalent to two trillion dirhans, in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the past ten years. The information was released by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, foreign trade sector, Abdul Rahman Al Saleh, this Thursday (10th) during the Annual Investment Meeting 2014, which takes place in Dubai, according to the newspaperGulf News website.
Al Saleh said that the foreign direct investment received by the country last year amounted to US$ 11.5 billion, 20% higher than in 2012, when it reached US$ 9.6 billion. According to the undersecretary, the country accounts for 34 per cent of the overall FDI inflows into the Gulf and North Africa.
He attributes the good performance of the country to the conducive business environment and advantages like its strategic location, logistics infrastructure and others."The UAE has succeeded in attracting FDI through globalisation and its role as a prominent player in the modernised economy”, he added.
Data from the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), mentioned by site Gulf News show that the FDI inflow in to the Middle East reached $39.7 billion in 2012. In that year, the top destination of FDI was Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.
The report on the foreign investment straight from the Financial Times newspaper, released by the agency Zawya, shows that the FDI in now companies in the Middle East reached US$ 46.8 billion in 2013, against US$ 32.6 billion in 2012.
The document also points out that, for the next five years, the local flow (from the own region) of FDI in the Middle East and Africa should grow by a year rate of 10%.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
