The UAE has topped the Arab list as the best and most attractive destination for investment and business in auto sales activity for 2024, Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) has said. The Kuwaiti-based Dhaman organization stated in its fourth sectoral report for 2024 on the automotive industry in Arab countries that five Arab nations—Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the UAE, Algeria, and Egypt—attracted 145 foreign projects, accounting for 79 percent of the total. These projects are valued at over $22 billion, representing 89 percent of the total investment, according to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
These projects created more than 91,000 jobs with a share of 89 percent of the total, Dhaman said, adding that China was the most important investor in the Arab region with 27 projects worth $8 billion. The projects provided around 20,000 jobs. The Gulf countries, led by the UAE, topped the Arab list as the best and most attractive destination for investment and business in automotive sales activity for 2024, followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, respectively, it indicated.
Read more: UAE investments in Türkiye surpass $5.6 billion as of August in 2022-2023
Automotive sector in Arab countries attracts significant foreign projects
The automotive sector in Arab countries attracted 184 foreign projects valued at more than $25 billion, providing more than 102,000 jobs from January 2003 to October 2024, Dhaman noted. Five countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Algeria, Morocco, and Kuwait had around 75 percent of overall vehicle sales in the region by the end of 2024, according to a press release from Dhaman. Concerning individual car sales in the region, they are likely to exceed 1.8 million cars by the end of 2024, up 4.5 percent compared to 2023, with Saudi Arabia ranking first with a share of 45 percent.
UAE strengthens position as leading global destination for investment
The UAE has strengthened its position as a leading global destination for promising investment opportunities and a key player in the global economy by capturing 45.4 percent of the total foreign direct investments (FDIs) flowing into the Arab states, amounting to AED248.3 billion in 2023. This is evident from the record growth in FDI inflows to the UAE, which increased by 35 percent to reach AED112.6 billion in 2023, as stated in a June 2024 report from the World Investment Report 2024 by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The UAE topped the list of countries in attracting FDIs, thanks to its enablers, flexible policies, and competitiveness that facilitate the establishment of diverse business activities and pioneering startup projects. The country also boasts advanced investment legislation and incentives that boost FDI inflows. Amendments to the Commercial Companies Law, allowing foreign investors to establish and fully own companies, facilitated over 275,000 new companies within a year and a half, bringing the total to over 788,000 companies by the end of 2023.
Notably, the UAE ranked second globally after the United States in greenfield FDI project announcements in 2023, with 1,323 new projects registered, marking a growth rate of approximately 33 percent compared to the previous year.
