With the highest score of 6.8 in the general ranking of the index, the UAE climbed three spots from its 4th global ranking in last year’s report to accomplish this feat, outperforming other leading global economies studied by the report.
The UAE also emerged as the number one global destination for establishing and starting businesses, boasting the most encouraging environment for entrepreneurship, in a survey carried out by the report.
HE Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said: “This prestigious achievement can be attributed to the unconditional support and the forward-looking vision of the UAE’s wise leadership. The UAE is entering the next 50 with the accomplishment of this achievement, by being at the forefront of global economies through the development of an exemplary entrepreneurship system and a highly enabling environment for companies. Today, the country serves as an ideal incubator for entrepreneurs and attracts leading projects, especially those operating in new economic sectors, innovation and emerging technologies. We are proud of this feat, which is a result of our wise leadership’s long-term vision that has put the entrepreneurship sector at the forefront of the development priorities and economic vision of the UAE. The global leadership that the country has achieved today confirms the soundness of this approach, the strength of government economic policies, and the efficiency of the private sector, especially the success rates enjoyed by the entrepreneurship sector and SMEs in the UAE“.
Bin Touq added that the country’s number one ranking is a clear message to investors, business owners and companies inside and outside the country that the UAE has a strong economic environment and flexible and proactive policies that ensure all the facilities and incentives necessary to attract and establish businesses and support their operations. It highlights the SMEs model where companies operating in the UAE can take advantage of the promising opportunities and the advantages provided by its business environment to grow and become large and profitable ventures and achieve success in regional and global markets.
Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, explained that the UAE’s number one ranking globally in entrepreneurship, which recognises its highly encouraging environment for entrepreneurship, is a new achievement to be added to the UAE’s track record. He pointed out that this achievement would not have been possible without the continuous support of the UAE’s wise leadership, especially in developing the entrepreneurship sector as one of the drivers of the future diversified, knowledge-based economy.
He added: “The achievement confirms the efficiency of the experience that the UAE has gained over the past years in developing an integrated and world-class entrepreneurship system, accelerating the growth of SMEs. This also encompasses the launch of initiatives and programs that make the activities of SMEs a major contributor to increasing the UAE’s non-oil GDP and promoting the transition towards technology, innovation and a knowledge economy at a faster pace, in line with the Principles of the 50 and the UAE Centennial 2071.” He noted that this result will benefit all sectors and economic activities, entrepreneurs and investors across the country and will further enhance confidence in the UAE markets as the most preferred destination for doing business and establishing ventures.
Al Falasi also elaborated on the most prominent achievements made by the UAE’s entrepreneurship model in the last and this year. This includes its number one ranking regionally in attracting startups funding by attracting more than USD 1 billion in venture capital for the first time in its history. Furthermore, the ‘Projects of the 50’ were launched to develop incentives for national entrepreneurship, and to facilitate the largest of their kind partnerships between the public and private sectors. The launch of the ‘Entrepreneurial Nation’ is the latest initiative to develop entrepreneurial practices and projects into new levels and lead to the creation of 20 unicorns out of the country’s markets over the next 10 years.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) , the UAE has achieved an improvement on 11 out of the 13 axes covered by the index. The UAE was the only country in the world participating in the report that achieved sufficient score or more on all axes such as Entrepreneurial Finance; Ease of Access to Entrepreneurial Finance; Government Policy: Support & Relevance; Government Policy: Taxes and Bureaucracy; Government Entrepreneurial Programs; Entrepreneurial Education at School; Entrepreneurial Education Post-School; Research and Development Transfers; Commercial and Professional Infrastructure; Ease of Entry: Market Dynamics; Ease of Entry: Burdens and Regulation; Physical Infrastructure; Social and Cultural Norms.
The UAE achieved high rates in indicators such as the availability of good opportunities to start a business; the availability of skills, knowledge and experience to start a business; confidence in the ability to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19; plans to use digital technology to develop business; and the ability of entrepreneurship projects in the country to generate new job opportunities in the coming years.
The Global Entrepreneurship Index is one of the indicators of the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda, under the axis of ‘Competitive Knowledge Economy, which is supervised by the Ministry of Economy with the participation of a national team and many entities concerned with entrepreneurship in the country, including the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is the number one global reference in entrepreneurship for countries and international organisations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and United Nations.
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