Speech of His Excellency Engineer Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri - Ministry of Economy

• Message from His Excellency Engineer Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri
• Minister of Economy, United Arab Emirates
• Annual Investment Meeting, Monday, March 30, 2015

Excellencies,

Honorable guests,

Distinguished participants of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM)!

The Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates is deeply honored to welcome you all to the fifth edition of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).

The world today is changing faster than we can imagine, and several global developments have had their impact on the UAE and wider region. Factors like the decline in oil prices or the depreciation of the euro are affecting different countries in different ways and re-shaping the global economy. A key factor, on the minds of many of us present here today, is the slower growth of developing countries. The growth rate is projected to rise moderately in 2015-16, from 3.3 percent in 2014 to 3.5 percent in 2015 according to the latest IMF estimates.

In synch with global economic growth, the UAE economy is expected to continue to grow despite the decline in oil fortunes. Although the UAE is now less dependent on natural resources as a source of revenue, petroleum and natural gas exports still play an important role in our national economy. However, our continued efforts for the diversification of the UAE economy are slowly but surely paying off. The UAE government has set its target to reduce the dependence on oil revenue to less than 10% of Gross National Product (GNP) in the upcoming years.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our national economy has made great strides over the years, with the UAE recording unprecedented growth, which can be attributed primarily to the successful economic policies pursued by the federal government. This has led to economic diversification and sustainable and meaningful development across various sectors. The UAE GDP increased more than 236-fold from AED6.5 billion in 1971, the year of the formation of the federation, to AED1,540 billion by the end of 2014.

While oil used to count for more than 90% of the Gross National Product in the 1970s, it gives me great pride to share with you today, that the contribution of non-oil sectors to the GNP has increased to register 69% at the end of 2014. Oil, our primary resource in 1971, today accounts for less than a third of the GNP.

As part of the progress witnessed by the UAE, foreign direct investments play an important role in our economic achievements. The UAE has been able to assume a leading position as an attractive destination for foreign investments. We ranked first among Arab countries and 22^nd globally in the Global Investment Index for 2015. The total volume of foreign investments exceeded US$100 billion. Last year, the UAE recorded a distinct surge in foreign direct investments that exceeded US$13 billion at a growth rate of 25%.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we all know, foreign direct investment has immediate benefits such as providing capital for enterprises, creation of new job opportunities, increase of government revenues and surges in foreign currency reserves. However, the real impact of FDIs on economic development comes from indirect means such as technology transfer, scientific know-how, sharing management and organizational best practices, as well as fostering competition and innovation.

This leads me to the theme of this year’s Annual Investment Meeting - ‘Sustainable Development through FDI induced Innovation and Technology Transfer’. The current edition of the AIM is aligned with the UAE strategy to build an economy that is based on knowledge, innovation and creativity.

Investment in science, technology and research are top priorities for the United Arab Emirates. This is aligned with the federal government's ambitious UAE Vision 2021 and its strategy for sustainable economic growth and competitiveness.

Distinguished guests,

A key aim of our UAE Vision 2021 and national agenda is to achieve foreign investment flows of 5% of the GNP. We are also keen to ensure that the UAE ranks first in the global index for ease of doing business, and is among the top 10 countries worldwide in the Global Competiveness Index.

We can confidently say that UAE is seen a distinctive and attractive investment environment by all foreign investors. However, we continuously work to advance and improve the investment climate within the country. Our ultimate aim is to provide an enabling investment environment supported by progressive legislations and laws. We are now in an advanced phase with regard to drafting a new federal Law of Foreign Direct Investment that allows 100% foreign ownership in some activities and sectors outside free zones.

Furthermore, there are currently a number of federal laws being developed such as the Companies Law, and Commercial Arbitration Law. Notably, the Ministry has also recently launched the Corporate Governance Guide.

The UAE government is strongly committed to removing bureaucratic hurdles that face foreign investors. It aims to shape the country into not just one of the most competitive economies in the region but one of the most competitive economies globally.

Finally, with the Ministry of Economy supervising the organization of this event, I would like to express my gratitude to every one of you for attending and contributing through your participation to the success of this event. I wish you a successful and enjoyable stay in the UAE.

Thank you!