The Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi emphasised the Emirate of Abu Dhabi’s government keenness to reinforce the competitiveness indices of the Emirate on the regional and international levels.

This is achieved through the development of the investment environment by creating a working system that simplifies and facilitates the procedures that are required to carry out the economic activities in the Emirate. This will encourage businessmen and investors to make Abu Dhabi a centre for starting their various economic activities.

Khalifa Al Mansouri, Acting Under-Secretary of the DED, said that the Competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi co-operates and co-ordinates with the related bodies to determine the best improvement opportunities and develop a comprehensive work plan that includes suitable developmental procedures that ensure the fulfilment of quick results by focussing on prioritising the complicated reforms and adjustments.

He also emphasised the Office’s keenness to adopt programmes and initiatives that allow continuous development of Abu Dhabi’s competitiveness on the medium and long terms with respect to the total economy, the governmental operations, the business sector, the infrastructure and innovation according to this success standards that were defined by Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.

He explained that the co-operation and co-ordination between the competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi and the related governmental and private bodies mainly aim to develop and facilitate the business environment as well as the competitiveness policies and initiatives, in addition to monitoring the competitiveness performance and present proposals that are necessary to develop the competitive thought.

He added that among the bodies with which the Office co-operates are various governmental and international bodies such as the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and the International Institute for Management Development. The aims is to identify areas of co-operation and establish mutual agreements to reinforce and develop Abu Dhabi’s competitive performance.

He stated that the Competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi periodically discusses the most important challenges and updates with the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC), in addition to the improvement opportunities that are based on benchmarks with pioneering cities in the field of competitiveness and including them within executive plans in co-operation with the governmental and private bodies to support the achievement of the goals of Abu Dhabi’s competitiveness agendas.

Hala Al Ameri, Director of the Competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi, said that the Office has recently announced its strategic plan for 2017-2021 which focusses on the implementation of several strategic initiatives with Abu Dhabi plan. The Office also launched several projects that contribute to supporting the Emirate, through the directions of the government, toward activating the role of the non-oil sectors to achieve sustainable economic development in the Emirate.

The strategy focussed on the idea of innovation and identifying the level of the capacity to innovate, the quality of scientific research, the availability of scientists and engineers and the protection of intellectual property. It also identified the level of high-performance institutions through competencies, capacity building, an increase of awareness of competitiveness, and the expansion of the global network.

The Office’s strategic plan also emphasised the importance of monitoring the results of the global indices, preparing reports about the competitiveness of the Emirate, developing the policies by understanding the visions and challenges that the companies face, preparing the recommendations that are related to changing the policies needed to encourage and improve the Emirate’s competitiveness.

The United Arab Emirates is ranked high on the competitiveness scale higher than many of the world’s biggest economies with respect to the global competitiveness indices. The country’s ranking in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook witnessed significant growth. The UAE has been ranked tenth from among 63 global economies.

The United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi have both achieved advanced ranks in several global competitiveness reports and competitiveness-related studies, such as the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Global Innovation Index, the Business Activities Practice Report, the Ipsos Top Cities Index 2017, the Digital Planet Report 2017 among others.

The UAE was also able to maintain its position among the countries with innovation and creativity-based economy within the five groups that the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum includes since joining this group back in 2006. Moreover, the UAE was ranked number 16th globally among the 138 global economies that the Report includes. The UAE was ranked fifth globally in more than 30 indices within the Report.

Source: Wam