- Dubai’s FDI strategy wins top billing in global ranking of investment locations
- fDi Magazine also rates Dubai third investment destination overall and second in Economic Potential in a list of 62 ‘Major’ cities
The Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), has seen Dubai’s FDI strategy being rated the best in a ranking of 130 FDI locations worldwide and their outstanding features.
The rankings, released by fDi Magazine, a Financial Times publication, as part of its ‘Global Cities of the Future’ list for 2014-15, also has Dubai in the third place among the top 10 FDI (foreign direct investment) locations classified as ‘Major’ cities, and fifth overall among all global investment locations of various sizes.
In another endorsement of Dubai’s growth prospects, fDi Magazine also ranks the city second in economic potential among ‘Major’ cities in a top 10 list, which included Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco etc. In the overall list too Dubai’s economic potential is rated third, above cities such as Shanghai, London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Dubai’s FDI strategy got the topmost rating after fDi Magazine evaluated the initiatives and programmes of Dubai FDI for their outreach and outcomes. Dubai’s ease of doing business, infrastructure and operational costs as well as the capabilities and network of Dubai FDI as an investment promotion agency (IPA) were examined as part of the exercise.
“Dubai being guided by a vision stressing on innovation and ease of doing business makes the task of FDI attraction into the emirate exciting. Competition makes it more challenging too but Dubai has been able to stand apart,” commented Fahad Al Gergawi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai FDI.
Al Gergawi added that the fDi Magazine rankings validated the fact that infrastructure, diversification and increasing connectivity to high growth markets, especially those in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, has given a new dimension to Dubai’s economic potential.
“While it remains a centre of trade and commerce at its core, Dubai is also a preferred place to live, pursue innovations and be an integral part of the global supply chain. Dubai FDI focuses on a strategy well-aligned with Dubai’s competitiveness, particularly the thrust on knowledge economy and new sectors such as green technologies and Islamic economy,” Al Gergawi said.
Dubai stood third and fourth in Connectivity and Business Friendliness respectively among the ‘Major’ cities while in the overall list Dubai took the eighth spot in both categories.
fDi Magazine classified the 130 cities under study according to population. In total, 24 cities with population greater than 10 million were grouped in the ‘Megacities’ category while 62 cities, including Dubai were classed as ‘Major’ (city population greater than 750,000 and urban zone population greater than two million).
The remaining cities fell into the ‘Large’ ‘Small & Medium’ and ‘Emerging’ categories depending on their population. The cities in the list were compared for their Economic Potential, Business Friendliness, Human Capital and Lifestyle, Cost Effectiveness, Connectivity and a qualitative study of the FDI strategy.
