The Dubai Competitiveness Office (DCO) within the Department of Economic Development (DED) is set to launch three major initiatives in 2014 as part of its mandate to elevate competitiveness levels across the UAE, particularly Dubai, to be the highest in regionally and internationally.
The initiatives will prepare the ground for Dubai to take its competitiveness to new levels and provide a framework for government agencies and the private sector to align growth plans with the momentum generated by Dubai’s selection as the host city for the World Expo 2020.
According to an official periodical launched by DCO, the first among the three initiatives is aimed to enhance and sustain government efficiency with regard to account payable procedures. The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector will be a major beneficiary of the initiative as it will ensure sustainable cash flow for such firms.
The second project looks at reinforcing the e-commerce infrastructure and online shopping environment. It will also help local businesses to expand their services across the region and internationally in a fast, safe, authentic and cost-effective way.
Meanwhile, the third project is geared to enhance the efficiency of ‘Starting and Doing Business’ in such a way that will sustain and advance the UAE’s ranking in this domains.
Khalid Al Kassim, Director the Dubai Competitiveness Office, said that the three initiatives form part of an ambitious competitiveness action plan and have been designed after mature dialogues with stakeholders in the public and private sectors.
“Ever since the Dubai Competitiveness Office was set up by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, with a vision to place competitiveness as the chief driver of prosperity for all citizens we have been gathering valuable inputs from all over the world on the best means to achieve this vision,” added Al Kassim.
“The highlights of our efforts towards evolving a competitiveness strategy and the proof points supporting our objectives are presented in the periodical we have launched now. The UAE being ranked among the top across various competitiveness indices played a major role in Dubai winning Expo 2020 and going forward competitiveness and the Expo will be bound by shared interests,” Al Kassim stated.
The periodical, planned to be published every quarter, also lists the thrust points of the strategy devised by DCO and DED towards enhancing competitiveness to such levels that make Dubai the best place in the world to live and invest.
The strategy includes providing all support to ensure Dubai’s sustainable development and competitiveness; identifying challenges and opportunities using competitiveness benchmarks in international indices; providing authentic and accurate data for agencies publishing international indices and encouraging public-private partnerships in development.
An info-graph showing the ranking of the UAE and Dubai across major international indices is also part of the DCO publication. The graph shows that the UAE was ranked No. 1 among Arab nations in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ by the World Bank and while the World Economic Forum has found the UAE to be an innovation-driven economy for three years in a row and placed the country within the 20 Most Competitive in the world.
The UAE is the Happiest Nation in the Arab world and 14th globally according to the United Nations and the country has also been named as the best in the Arab world to be born in. Dubai, meanwhile, has also grabbed remarkable ratings across various indices including being No.1 in the world in Lifestyle indicator and No.2 in Hosting Trade Marks.
DCO is entrusted with spreading awareness on the concept of competitiveness across all service sectors and co-ordinating government efforts towards competitiveness in the local and federal levels. The Office will also develop and implement necessary strategies to upgrade the capabilities of Emiratis and strengthen Dubai’s standing as an investment destination.
