The Ministry of Finance (MoF) organised, today, a press conference to highlight the UAE’s performance in the Gulf Common Market (GCM), at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The press conference outlined elements of the 6th annual statistical report on the GCM, which was recently issued by the Regional and International Financial Relations Department at MoF. HE Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoF offered an overview of the GCM, including its establishment, developments, goals as well as UAE’s performance with regards to the ten most prominent aspects of the market during 2014.
The report included a number of social, economic and education elements, in addition to the license granted to practice economic, investment and service activities. It also included the total number of registered property contracts and investors in the stock market, the total number of Gulf commercial bank branches operating in the UAE, GCC employees in the UAE public and private sector. The report also focuses on the number of insurance policies extended to GCC, GCC students enrolled in public and private schools, and the beneficiaries of the social and health service within the UAE.
Commenting on the report, HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, stressed that the GCC is moving towards achieving its ultimate objectives and more positive results. HE said: “The 6th edition of MoF report reveals the strong performance indicators of the economic integration between GCC countries, which reflects the achievements for the Member States citizens in different fields, and the specialised authorities’ commitment in the GCC countries to continue working to achieve more positive results for GCC nationals.”
Economic Activity Licenses
Data from the statistical report shows phenomenal growth in the number of licenses granted to GCC nationals to practice economic activities, which amounted to 38,701 by the end of 2014. This is an increase of 3,695 from 2013 and a growth rate of 10.50%. The number of licenses granted has continually increased from 2000 to 2013, with 5,594 licenses issued in 2000, representing an increase by 591.80% up to 2014.
Total distribution of licenses according to nationalities:
| Country | Number of licenses by end of 2014 | Number of licenses by end of 2013 |
| Saudi Arabia | 16,797 | 15,052 |
| Kuwait | 7,141 | 6,543 |
| Oman | 6,487 | 5,827 |
| Bahrain | 5,706 | 5,374 |
| Qatar | 2,570 | 2,201 |
| Total | 38,701 | 35,006 |
Gulf bank branches
Gulf banks operating within the UAE increased to ten branches by the end of 2014, where in 2003, the number of banks did not exceed three branches. The bank list includes:
| Country | Bank | Number of branches |
| Kuwait | National Bank of Kuwait | 2 |
| Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait | 2 | |
| Oman | National Bank of Oman | 2 |
| Qatar | Doha Bank | 2 |
| Saudi Arabia | Samba Financial Group | 1 |
| Bahrain | National Bank of Bahrain | 1 |
Trading shares
Joint-stock companies that allow GCC citizens to trade shares increased in 2014 to 80 companies, which represents 74% of total companies registered with the Securities and Commodities Authority in UAE. The following table demonstrates the total number of investors up until the end of 2014, and the capital value invested for each GCC country:
| Country | Number of investors | Capital value |
| Saudi Arabia | 114,211 investors | AED 50,863 million |
| Kuwait | 42,979 investors | AED 7,085 million |
| Oman | 58,338 investors | AED 7,186 million |
| Bahrain | 16,922 investors | AED 23,812 million |
| Qatar | 15,735 investors | AED 9,977 million |
| Total | 278,185 investors | AED 98,923 million |
Property ownership
The UAE continues to maintain its lead position in attracting GCC investors to own real estate, where the number GCC citizens’ ownership reached 18,032 in 2014, whilst the total GCC real estate ownerships reached 90,295, distributed as follows:
| Country | Registered real estate in 2014 | Rate Distribution of registered real estate in 2014 | Total number of real estate by the end of 2014 |
| Saudi Arabia | 8,206 | 47.1% | 23,904 |
| Kuwait | 1,545 | 28.7% | 42,799 |
| Oman | 1,325 | 7.2% | 6,635 |
| Bahrain | 1,545 | 8.6% | 8,210 |
| Qatar | 1,458 | 8.4% | 8,946 |
| Total | 17,641 | 100% | 89,904 |
Working in private and government sectors
The number of GCC citizens working in the federal government sector reached 4,608 employees, representing an increase of 4.9% compared to 2013 (4,384) in both the public and private sectors. GCC citizens working in federal government sector amounted to 1,041, while the number of GCC citizens working in the private sector equalled 3,567. The following table shows GCC employees distribution in government and private sectors:
| Federal government employees | Private sector employees | Country | ||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| 51 | 4.9% | 652 | 18.3% | Saudi |
| 11 | 1% | 65 | 1.8% | Kuwait |
| 895 | 86% | 2,255 | 63.1% | Oman |
| 68 | 6.5% | 571 | 16% | Bahrain |
| 16 | 1.5% | 24 | 0.7 % | Qatar |
| 1,041 employees | 100% | 3,567 employees | 100% | Total |
Social and retirement security (insurance security)
In 2013, the total number of GCC national beneficiaries amounted to 8,058, and reached 9,117 beneficiaries in 2014, representing a growth of 11.6%.Distribution of beneficiaries by sector is demonstrated in the following table:
| Total | Private Sector | Government Sector | Country |
| 825 | 337 | 488 | Saudi |
| 105 | 91 | 14 | Kuwait |
| 7,124 | 1,524 | 5,600 | Oman |
| 1,041 | 537 | 504 | Bahrain |
| 22 | 5 | 17 | Qatar |
| 9,117 | 2,494 | 6,623 | Total |
Benefit from educational services (schools)
UAE schools received 17,856 students from GCC citizens in 2014, including 13,373 from different stages of education in government schools, and 3,479 students in private schools. The following table highlights the distribution of GCC students in private and government schools:
| Total | Government schools | Private Schools | Country |
| 3,209 | 2,201 | 1,008 | Saudi Arabia |
| 926 | 67 | 859 | Kuwait |
| 12,280 | 10,505 | 1,775 | Oman |
| 1,215 | 488 | 727 | Bahrain |
| 226 | 112 | 114 | Qatar |
| 17,856 students | 13,373 students | 4,483 students | Total |
Benefit from educational services (universities)
With regards to the higher education, UAE government universities received 768 students in 2014, and 9,099 students in private universities. The following table showcases the distribution of students according to their country of origin and type of university:
| Total | Government Universities | Private Universities | Country |
| 1,779 | 118 | 1,661 | Saudi Arabia |
| 1,139 | 28 | 1,111 | Kuwait |
| 5,948 | 567 | 5,381 | Oman |
| 364 | 39 | 621 | Bahrain |
| 341 | 16 | 325 | Qatar |
| 9,867 students | 768 students | 9,099 students | Total |
Health indicators
Private hospitals and clinics in UAE offered their services to 363,473 GCC citizens in 2014. The number of GCC citizens benefiting from health insurance services in Abu Dhabi reached 40,752 by the end of 2014, whereas the number of beneficiaries from these services in Dubai reached 3,679.
Social services
The total number of GCC citizens benefiting from social services in UAE reached 36 in 2014, 16 of which have benefited from social aid, and 20 citizens from social care for juveniles.
