His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who serves as Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, commended the UAE’s leadership and hard work. He highlighted that the UAE has achieved 7th place in the 2024 World Competitiveness Report by the International Institute for Management Development. This report evaluates countries based on more than 90 indicators of global competitiveness, showing how well they perform in areas like business environment, infrastructure, and economic strength. The UAE’s high ranking reflects its success in these areas and its commitment to excellence on the global stage.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum expressed gratitude to all the teams in the government, economic, and development sectors. He praised their collaborative efforts and shared dedication towards a common goal: advancing the United Arab Emirates. This teamwork, he emphasized, plays a crucial role in driving the nation’s progress and success in various fields.
In the 2024 World Competitiveness Report, the UAE moved up to 7th place, surpassing countries like Norway, Iceland, Japan, Canada, and Finland. It achieved 2nd place in Economic Performance, showing strong growth and stability in its economy. The UAE also ranked 4th in Government Efficiency, highlighting effective governance and public sector performance. Additionally, it secured 10th place in Business Efficiency, indicating a favourable environment for businesses to operate and thrive. These rankings reflect the UAE’s robust competitiveness and its effective management across economic, governmental, and business sectors on a global scale.
Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, who serves as the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, highlighted that the UAE consistently ranks high in the global competitiveness report, showcasing its status as one of the world’s leading economies. He credited this achievement to the exceptional vision and wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai.
Al Gergawi emphasized that the UAE’s success as a pioneering developmental model is due to its ability to adapt to ongoing global changes. He commended the UAE’s infrastructure preparedness, economic adaptability, and government effectiveness. He stated that the UAE’s competitiveness in the global arena is greatly influenced by these variables.
Hanan Mansour Ahli, the Managing Director of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, commented on the results by praising the seamless integration and effective management of real-time data and statistics exchange between federal and local government entities. She emphasized that achieving this milestone was possible thanks to dedicated teams who diligently implemented the government’s vision and directives for the future. Ahli highlighted that these accomplishments underscore the UAE’s leadership role and demonstrate the strong principles of competitiveness ingrained in the country’s culture.
Leading Positions in Key Metrics
The World Competitiveness Report evaluates countries based on four main areas and 20 sub-areas. This year, the UAE showed improvement across all these areas and ranked among the top 10 countries globally in over 90 specific measures. It achieved 1st place in 11 indicators, such as industrial disputes, labor force quality, and tourism receipts. Additionally, the UAE secured 2nd place in nine indicators.
The country also ranked 3rd globally in six indicators, including the collection of capital and property taxes, immigration policies, city management effectiveness, and the percentage of government budget surplus.
These rankings highlight the UAE’s strong performance across various aspects of competitiveness, reflecting its effective policies and management strategies on the global stage.
The UAE also secured 4th place in 12 specific measures, which include consumer price inflation, long-term unemployment rates, international experience, overall productivity (PPP), labor regulations, and the balance between commercial services and public sector employment.
Additionally, the UAE achieved 5th place in 13 indicators, such as GDP per capita (PPP), quality of air transportation, energy infrastructure, number of graduates in sciences, ease of starting businesses, regulations for unemployment, employment of highly-skilled foreign workers, promotion of national culture, unemployment rates, and measures to prevent tax evasion.
These rankings underscore the UAE’s strong performance in various key areas, demonstrating its effective policies and infrastructure in supporting economic growth and societal development.
First released in 1989, the IMD World Competitiveness Report is an extensive yearly publication that serves as a global standard for assessing how competitive countries are. It provides valuable insights into global trends, benchmarks, and a wide range of statistics and survey findings gathered through thorough research.
The report evaluates and ranks countries based on their ability to effectively manage their resources and capabilities to create sustainable long-term value. It helps governments, businesses, and researchers understand where countries excel and where they can improve in terms of competitiveness on the world stage.
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