Dubai retains No.1 global ranking for attracting Greenfield FDI projects

2nd Jun 2023 | Source: Edelman Africa

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<li>Dubai achieves 89.5% YoY growth in total announced FDI projects in 2022 compared to 2021</li>
<li>Dubai attracts total estimated FDI Capital of AED47 billion ($12.8 billion) in 2022 and creates an estimated 38,447 jobs</li>
<li>Dubai’s share in attracting global Greenfield FDI projects reaches 4% in 2022 - an increase of 1.9% compared to 2021 - with a record 837 projects, achieving the highest growth in global shares across the past seven years</li>
<li>The top five source countries for FDI capital accounted for 72% of total estimated flows into the emirate in 2022, while the top five source countries for FDI projects accounted for 54% in 2022 
 
Dubai retained its No. 1 spot globally for attracting Greenfield FDI projects in 2022, further reinforcing its position as the world’s top foreign direct investment hub, according to the latest data from the 2022 Financial Times ‘fDi Markets’ report. 
 
Retaining its top spot for a second successive year, Dubai achieved 89.5% YoY growth in total announced FDI projects in 2022, while total FDI capital surged 80.3% over the same period, further consolidating the emirate’s status as one of the top three global cities, a key goal of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. 
 
Financial Times Ltd. ‘fDi Markets’ data for 2022 showed that Dubai continued to maintain and improve its leadership position across key FDI attraction metrics. The emirate ranked first in attracting FDI projects into tourism, business services, financial services, transport and warehousing, consumer products, and software & IT services sectors. Dubai also emerged as the 2022 world leader in attracting FDI projects in the creative industries cluster, in research and development projects, and in attracting FDI project headquarters by hosting international companies’ global and regional headquarters. 
 
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, said: “Dubai’s leading global FDI ranking underpins a comprehensive framework of initiatives that were launched to further strengthen the city’s business and investment environment, based on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. 
 
“Our strategy to further consolidate the city’s position as one of the top three global cities, in line with the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, is again strengthened by the achievement of attracting and stimulating FDI and reflects the confidence investors, multinational companies, start-ups, and global talent have in Dubai. The growth of the city’s share in global Greenfield FDI projects clearly indicates our strategy’s effectiveness and also highlights the city’s position as the capital of the global digital economy and a hub for innovation and technology, further ensuring that increasing FDI inflow remains a top priority and key goal of the D33 Agenda,” HE Helal Almarri added. 
 
Overall in 2022, Dubai ranked seventh globally in attracting Greenfield FDI Capital and fifth globally in FDI Jobs. From a MENA perspective, Dubai ranked second in FDI Capital and first in FDI Jobs. Compared to 2021, Greenfield FDI (wholly owned) and new forms of investments increased by 6% in 2022. The new forms of investments demonstrate the level of Dubai’s domestic market maturity and the diverse non-equity-based partnership opportunities across joint ventures, strategic alliances, sub-contracting, licensing, production-sharing franchising, and turnkey projects. 
 
The emirate’s share in attracting global Greenfield FDI projects reached 4%, an increase of 1.9% compared to 2021, with a record 837 projects enabling the city to achieve the highest growth in global shares across the past seven years, according to data from Financial Times’ fDi Markets, the most comprehensive online database on cross-border Greenfield investments. Dubai attracted a total of 1,173 FDI projects in 2022. 
 
Dubai FDI Monitor’s data also revealed that the total estimated FDI capital flowing into Dubai in 2022 was AED47 billion ($12.8 billion) compared to AED26.07 billion in 2021. An estimated 38,447 jobs were created in Dubai in 2022 compared to 24,932 jobs in 2021. 
 
The top five source countries for FDI projects accounted for 54% of the total in 2022, split among the United States (20%), the United Kingdom (13%), India (12%), France (5%), and Switzerland (4%). Additionally, the top five source countries for FDI capital accounted for 72% of the total estimated flows into the emirate in 2022, split among Canada (41%), the United Kingdom (12%), the United States (11%), India (4%), and Switzerland (4%). 
 
The top five sectors - transportation & warehousing, hotels & tourism, renewable energy, software & IT services, and consumer products - accounted for 76% of the total estimated flows into Dubai and 68% of announced FDI projects — the transportation & warehousing sector led the pack with a dominant 45% share of FDI capital. Dubai FDI Monitor data also revealed that the top five business functions accounted for 78% of total estimated flows into Dubai, while 93% accounted for the total announced FDI projects in 2022. Business services also remained a prominent business function based on FDI projects and FDI capital in 2022. 
 
Types of foreign direct investment by projects 
Compared to 2021, Dubai leads the world in a number of important metrics as a result of attracting different types of FDI projects and capital, including Greenfield FDI and new forms of investments: mergers, acquisitions, reinvestments, VC-backed FDI and greenfield joint ventures. 
 
Complementing the 2022 increase in FDI capital, the hotels & tourism sector and the software & IT services sector catalysed growth in total estimated jobs created through FDI. High and medium-tech FDI projects accounted for 63% of the projects recorded in this sector in 2022, highlighting Dubai’s position as a preferred destination for high-tech FDI projects and a global centre for specialised talent in the digital economy.</li>
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